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Friday, Jul. 31, 1998
Dow resurges in 111.99-point rebound
Showing fails to foster optimism in market analyst
Associated Press
NEW YORK - Stocks rallied back Thursday, posting the biggest gains in two weeks, as bargain-hunters provided at least a temporary respite from the market's nearly continuous slide from record levels.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 111.99 to 9,026.95, wiping out the losses of the prior two days but still leaving the blue-chip measure 311.02 points from July 17's record of 9,337.97.
Big-name technology shares, as usual, led the latest about-face in what's been a week full of sudden market turns.
The Nasdaq composite index surged 38.09 to 1,919.51.
``This is a classic oversold bounce,'' said Scott Bleier, chief investment strategist at Prime Charter, cautioning that while the rebound may continue into next week, the market's underlying vital signs aren't strong.
``Nasdaq advancers and decliners were almost even with the Nasdaq composite up more than 30 points,'' said Bleier. ``The market can't just be supported by 50 stocks for a very long time. History has proven that.''
Advancers fared better on the NYSE, outnumbering decliners by nearly a 2-to-1 margin.
The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 17.74 to 1,142.95, erasing a big chunk of its loss from the past two weeks, a period dominated by uncertainty about the economy and company profits, as well as the latest developments in the Monica Lewinsky case.
The NYSE composite index rose 7.84 to 575.26, and the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 5.61 to 713.47. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 3.31 to 429.50.
NYSE composite volume totaled 811.01 million shares, up from 763.72 million on Wednesday.
Overseas, Tokyo's Nikkei stock average rose 0.3 percent, Frankfurt's DAX index fell 0.1 percent and London's FT-SE 100 rose 1.1 percent.
There was little reaction Thursday to a key report saying employment costs - which typically account for two-thirds of a product's price - rose 0.9 percent in the second quarter compared with the first three months of 1998.
The data, which was in line with most forecasts, came a week after Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan asserted that the central bank isn't very concerned about an economic slowdown, and would still be inclined to step on the brakes with higher interest rates if inflationary pressures perk up.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