Ligand is in USA Today's summary of yesterday's action:
NEW YORK -- A stubborn U.S. stock market, refusing to be
banished to the minus column for long, dug itself out of a morning
retrenchment in afternoon dealings to forge deeper into record territory
Thursday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 55.05 points, or 0.7%, to
8369.60, for its third consecutive record close. The index traded down
as much as 76.23 points at 11:15 a.m. ET. Since Jan. 12's intraday
low, the Dow has surged 12.3% amid dimming fears related to the
Asian economic crisis.
"When the market gets this overbought this early in a move, it's often
akin to a launching," said Jeff Cooper, head of Cooper Trading. "It
usually means that the market has a ways to go in time, often for three
to four months."
Within the market, leadership was provided by the transportation
sector, surging on yet another stellar outing by the airline group. The
other strong segment was that of retail, as investors bought the shares
on anticipation of a round of glowing earnings reports, due to be
released in coming days.
In Asia, Indonesia's main stock index plunged 9.3% as investors
expressed their disapproval over efforts to stabilize that nation's
currency, the rupiah. In addition, the carnage was fueled by the majority
Golkar party's decision to favor a controversial Cabinet minister for the
office of vice president.
Also, Malaysia's KLSE Composite index stumbled 5.0% on
profit-taking after sprinting 30% since the end of January. Meanwhile,
Japan's Nikkei 225 index dipped 0.2%. See full story.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.4%, the New York Stock
Exchange Composite gained 0.3%, and the American Stock Exchange
Composite added 0.3%.
But New York Stock Exchange losers edged winners by a scant two
issues.
On the Big Board floor, turnover rose 3% to 613 million shares.
The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.3%. Advancing issues lagged
decliners by 34 shares in the Nasdaq Stock Market. There were 142
new highs and 38 new lows. Volume totaled 772 million shares.
In earnings news, Informix jumped 1 7/16, or 20%, to 8 13/16 after
the database software specialist posted fourth-quarter net of 5 cents a
diluted share. Most analysts had expected a loss of 16 cents.
May Department Stores appreciated 7/8 to 58. The company recorded
fourth-quarter results of $1.79 a diluted share, 4 cents better than most
views, and okayed a buyback of up to $650 million of its stock.
Other major retailers rang up gains in sympathy with May, which was
the first of the so-called broadline retailers to announce fourth-quarter
results. Retail stocks have been stalwart performers for a number of
months due to rising consumer income and expanding jobs growth.
Wal-Mart Stores was 1 3/4 richer at 44 3/4, Sears 1 1/4 to 53 7/8,
Nordstrom 3 1/4 to 57, Home Depot 1 1/8 to 65 1/8, Dollar General 1
3/8 to 41 3/8, and Dayton Hudson 1/2 to 73.
Finnish telecommunications concern Nokia connected for a 9-point
gain to 91 3/4. The firm netted approximately $1.49 a share in its fourth
quarter, easily coasting past Street estimates of $1.19. But Nokia
acknowledged slowness in its Japanese operations, which hampered
mobile-phone sales results.
In special situations, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter advanced 2 1/2 to
64 after its board finalized a program to buy back $3 billion of its
stock.
Compaq Computer shed 1 to 35 1/2. A Wall Street Journal article
suggested Compaq's proposed merger with Digital Equipment might be
taking attention away from problems in its personal computer business.
After skyrocketing 63% Wednesday, hybrid-seed producer DeKalb
Genetics tacked on another 4 3/4 points, or 9%, to 58 3/4.
Wednesday, the company said it hired Merrill Lynch to explore
strategic alternatives. Monsanto, which owns 10% of DeKalb's Class
A shares and about 45% of Class B shares, said it might want to
purchase the shares of DeKalb it doesn't already hold.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals rose 1 1/8 to 14 1/2. Wednesday, the
company said its Targretin product resulted in a disappearance of 72%
of breast cancer tumors in a study involving rats.
But another biotechnology concern was not as fortunate. Cytyc
swooned 4 13/16 to 21 11/16 after a study indicated its cancer
products possess "modest" benefits.'
Within the technology complex, widely-held issues traded with an
upward bias. Netscape rose 1 5/16 to 22 3/16, Dell 1/2 to 35 1/4,
3Com 1 1/2 to 35 1/4, Ascend 5/16 to 33 13/16, Bay Networks 1/2
to 31 13/16, Motorola 5/16 to 61 15/16.
The semiconductor group traded lower despite kind words from the
Sanford C. Bernstein brokerage firm. Bernstein said it sees supply and
demand for chips reaching equilibrium by early 1999. Novellus Systems
lifted 2 1/2 to 42 1/2, Lam Research gained 2 1/8 to 28 7/16, Applied
Materials picked up 1 to 37, and KLA-Tencor rose 1 1/8 to 44 7/8
after Bernstein raised its opinion on the semiconductor equipment
shares to "outperform" from "market perform."
Bernstein's comments came a day after influential Merrill Lynch analyst
Thomas Kurlak reiterated his bearish stance on the group. In a research
note, Kurlak Wednesday said the stocks' current run-up will prove
short-lived and will eventually lead to a decline to new lows.
Additionally, Kurlak sees price declines of 20% to 30% for dynamic
random access memory chips.
Investors' infatuation with airline stocks continued Thursday. The group
has leaped higher over the past several months due to declining oil
prices and rising seat demand. US Airways ascended 4 1/2 to 69 7/8,
Delta Air Lines 3 1/8 to 123 1/8, Alaska Air Group 3 5/8 to 57 1/2,
AMR 3 5/8 to 134 3/4, Northwest Airlines 3 1/4 to 59 1/4, Atlantic
Coast Airlines 1 1/2 to 40 1/4, and UAL 2 7/8 to 89 3/4. |
