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Technology Stocks : Ascend Communications (ASND) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: gerard mangiardi who wrote (31781)	1/22/1998 8:10:00 PM
From: Jeff Jordan	Respond to of 61433

Thursday January 22, 5:31 pm Eastern Time U.S. stocks tripped by Asia, earnings and scandal By Richard Jacobsen NEW YORK, Jan 22 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended lower on Thursday, tripped up by investor concern over Asian economies, corporate profits and a brewing sexual scandal in Washington. The Dow ended down unoffically 63.52 points, or 0.81 percent, at 7730.88. Losing issues outnumbered gainers by a nine-to-five ratio on the New York Stock Exchange on heavy trading of about 640 million shares. Traders said investors were taking a wait-and-see approach to talk of a scandal involving allegations that President Clinton carried on an extramarital affair with a former White House intern and tried to cover it up by asking her to lie under oath. Nonetheless, the scandal added to the recent mood of uncertainty on Wall Street stemming from worries that the Asian economic crisis will trim U.S. corporate profits in 1998. ''It does make you kind of nervous, and when people are nervous, they sell stocks,'' said James Volk, co-director of institutional trading at Jensen Securities. The Nasdaq composite fell unofficially 11.41 to 1576.51. The Asian economic situation unsettled U.S. investors again on Thursday after the plunging Indonesian rupiah dragged down markets across the region. Oil drillers were among the hardest hit Thursday. The group was clipped by a sharp drop in the price of oil and news from Schlumberger Ltd (SLB - news). Schlumberger reported slightly lower-than-expected quarterly earnings and said clients' plans to increase exploration and development spending may be modified when the impact of Asia's economic problems on oil demand becomes more clear. Schlumberger fell 9-3/4 to 71-3/4. Halliburton Co (HAL - news), fell 4-7/8 to 43-1/2, Parker Drilling Co (PKD - news) dropped 1-1/16 at 11-7/8 and Global Marine Inc (GLM - news) shed 1-13/16 to 22-11/16. Oil closed $0.32 lower at $16.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after sliding early to $15.90, the lowest price since the week of April 15, 1994. Oil markets were jarred by an oil inventory report showing surging U.S. crude supply. Analysts said that with all the uncertainties clouding the horizon, U.S. stocks were unlikely to break out of a trading range that has gripped Wall Street since the summer. ''It seems like the trading range is getting tighter and tighter,'' said Bob Dickey, technical analyst at Dain Rauscher. He said stocks appeared locked between 7500 and 8000 on the Dow industrials index. AT&T Corp (T - news) is planning to cut at least 15,000 jobs and reorganize as it gears up to compete in local telephone and Internet service and other new businesses, sources familiar with the plans said Thursday. AT&T ended up 7/8 to 66. Microsoft Corp (MSFT - news) rattled technology shares after warning late Wednesday that economic weakness in Asia ''clouds the oulook for calendar 1998.'' But the software giant's shares rebounded after it and the U.S. Justice Department announced a partial antitrust settlement. Microsoft ended up 1-5/8 to 138-5/8. General Electric Co. (GE - news), the conglomerate whose holdings range from NBC Television to aircraft engines, ended down 1-5/16 to 74-5/16 after reporting record profits and sales in the fourth quarter. Planet Hollywood International Inc (PHL - news), the movie memorabilia-themed restaurant franchiser, fell 3-5/16 to 7-1/8 after saying it expects ''modestly lower'' 1998 earnings as it reorganizes to improve long-term performance. Sears, Roebuck & Co. (S - news) fell 14/16 to 45-1/16 after reporting a drop in its fourth-quarter profits. The nation's second-largest retailer said it had to set aside loss provisions for customer debt it was unable to collect. Robert Mondavi Corp (MOND - news) fell 7-11/16 to 40-1/8 after saying it expects a shortage of one of its wines plus intense competition from imported wines to affect the company's overall earnings growth in fiscal 1998. The Nasdaq composite ended down 11.41 to 1576.51 The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 7.77 to 963.04.