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Thursday, Jul. 16, 1998
Nasdaq hits sixth straight record high
Dow edges downward 11.07 amid profit-taking from previous day's big gains
Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Technology shares rallied the Nasdaq market to a sixth straight record, but most stocks fell Wednesday as investors locked in some of Tuesday's big gains.
An early 60-point gain put the Dow Jones industrial average above 9,300 for the first time, but the blue-chip barometer finished with a loss of 11.07 at 9,234.47.
The Dow, which rose 150 points on Tuesday for its first closing record in two months, would have suffered a much steeper loss if not for a huge gain from Eastman Kodak, which beat Wall Street forecasts for its second-quarter profit.
Kodak's shares surged 8 -- or the equivalent of about 35 Dow points -- to 82 in heavy trading. It was the second day in a row that one of the Dow 30 soared on profit news. J.P. Morgan rose more than 7 points on Tuesday after the investment bank beat analysts' projections.
The broad market was mixed, with smaller-company shares posting a modest gain and the technology-heavy Nasdaq market rising 1.3 percent despite a seemingly disappointing profit report from Intel.
Like the Dow, the Standard & Poor's 500 gave back a small piece of Tuesday's record-setting gain, but analysts downplayed the significance of Wednesday's stumble.
``On a real short-term basis, the market's a little extended,'' said Richard A. Dickson, a technical analyst at Scott & Stringfellow in Richmond, Va. ``There will be potholes on the way, but it looks like the summer rally is in good shape.''
The Nasdaq composite index rose 26.13 to 1,994.54, nearly crossing 2,000 for the first time and extending this year's gain to 27 percent.
The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 2.77 to 1,174.81 after climbing 12 points on Tuesday, setting a new high and pushing this year's gain above 21 percent.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a narrow margin on the New York Stock Exchange, while advancers were more populous in Nasdaq trading.
NYSE composite volume totaled a hefty 879.78 million shares, up from 853.59 million on Tuesday.
The NYSE composite index, which also set a new high on Tuesday, fell 2.12 to 595.49, and the American Stock Exchange composite index fell 1.81 to 730.39.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 2.54 to 461.97.
Overseas, Tokyo's Nikkei stock average rose 0.8 percent, Frankfurt's DAX index rose 0.6 percent and London's FT-SE 100 rose 0.8 percent.Post your comments about local news eventsFront Page || Main Index || News || Business || Texas || South Texas Outdoors || Birdwatching || Sports || Entertainment || Selena || Education || South Texas Attractions || World Wide Web