To: Ray Tarke who wrote (362 ) 10/10/1998 9:04:00 AM From: Jeffrey L. Henken Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 939
Stocks Bounce Back; Hopes Of Fed Rate Cut By Marjorie Olster NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose across the board Friday as the financial and technology sectors staged a snap-back rally after this week's carnage. All eyes were on the Federal Reserve amid speculation the U.S. central bank may cut interest rates again, prior to its next scheduled policy-setting meeting on Nov. 17 and perhaps even as early as this weekend. ''We are trading on rumors. We have thrown fundamentals out the window,'' said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies and Co. At 1:20 p.m. EDT, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 61.28, or 0.8 percent, at 7,793.19. On Thursday, the blue-chip index ended the session down 10 points after shaking off a huge loss of nearly 275 points. In the broader market, advances led declines by a narrow 16-13 margin on active volume of 536 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange. The Nasdaq composite index rose 40.65 points, or 3 percent, to 1,459.77. The technology-laced Nasdaq fell 43 points Thursday after climbing back from a loss of 115 points. Bargain hunters snapped up technology stocks after four straight days of heavy selling wiped 12 percent off the Nasdaq. Financial stocks, which had also been under tremendous selling pressure, rebounded too. ''Everyone is waiting on (Fed Chairman Alan) Greenspan. Everyone thinks he is going to make some emergency moves to stop this carnage,'' said Charlie Payne, an analyst for Wall Street Strategies. ''You have to watch the financial stocks.'' He said financial stocks have been seesawing wildly on Fed expectations, going up on optimism for an interest rate cut only to sell off on fears the central bank may wait. Worries about more major losses at hedge funds due to turmoil in global markets were also affecting financial stocks, Jefferies' Hogan said. He said the dramatic recovery in financial stocks late Thursday, which helped the market erase a good part of its early losses, came after the hedge fund Tiger Management denied rumors it was going under. Those rumors had triggered heavy selling in financial stocks earlier in the day, Hogan said. The market has been very edgy about hedge fund losses since the near-collapse last month of Long-Term Capital Management, which needed a $3.5 billion bailout by U.S. banks and investment houses to stay afloat. Hedge funds are private investment partnerships that cater to the wealthy and often delve into speculative investments. As for the Fed rumors, Hogan said it would be uncharacteristic for the central bank to move just two weeks after it cut key short-term rates a quarter point. ''I'm surprised by how much validity people are putting into these rumors,'' he said. Elliott Platt, managing director of economic research at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, said the Fed has only changed policy once between meetings since 1994 when they adopted the practice of announcing their moves after a meeting. ''It's extraordinarily unusual. The Fed is happy with the pattern of moving in the aftermath of a meeting and making a detailed announcement,'' Platt said. Among active issues, Citigroup rose 1-5/8 to 33-5/8 and was the most active on the NYSE. Allegiance Corp. jumped nine to 32 on news it would be acquired by drug distributor Cardinal Health Inc. in a stock deal valued at $5.4 billion including assumption of debt. dailynews.yahoo.com Regards, Jeff