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Saturday, Sep. 12, 1998
Stocks rally into weekend despite Starr's report
Favorable business reports help market close 155 points higher
By BRUCE MEYERSON
Associated PressNEW YORK -- Stocks rallied Friday as several big companies gave soothing business updates and Kenneth Starr's report on President Clinton proved more surprising in its details than allegations.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 179.96 to 7,795.50, overcoming an early 96-point slide and finishing the week 155.25 points higher.
American Express surged 8 points -- or the equivalent of about 35 Dow points -- to 78 after reiterating its goals for profit growth even with its exposure to a global economic crisis that has sent the financial sector into a tailspin.
Likewise, the Nasdaq composite index rose 3.5 percent as technology shares drew a boost from late Thursday's encouraging profit updates by Intel and Oracle.
The rally, which came after a two-day downturn that had wiped out Tuesday's record gain of 380 points, trimmed the Dow's loss for 1998 to 1 percent and shrank the gap from the July 17 record of 9,337.97 to about 16.5 percent.
The market's weak opening Friday followed another rocky day overseas, where Tokyo's Nikkei Stock Average plunged 5.1 percent amid news that Japan's worst recession since 1955 deepened in the second quarter.
Despite the quick recovery from Friday's early drop, however, the mood on Wall Street remained somber before the scheduled afternoon release of the independent counsel's report on the Monica Lewinsky affair.
The market pulled back only briefly, however, and then pushed higher as the public was given its first glimpse of the report, which alleged 11 acts that ``may constitute grounds for an impeachment.''
Analysts said investors, unsettled by Wednesday's unexpected delivery of the report to Congress, may have been relieved to see that there were no major surprises.
The report, made public by a House vote, specifically accused Clinton of obstruction of justice, witness tampering, abuse of his presidential powers and perjury -- both in his grand jury appearance last month and in his sworn deposition last January in the Paula Jones lawsuit.
It did not allege any impeachable offenses by Clinton from other parts of Starr's probe, including the Whitewater land deal or the firing of White House travel office employees. But the report said those aspects of the investigation were continuing.
``This report is not as damaging as it could have been. People were concerned that there was going to be much worse things in there,'' said Charles Lemonides, portfolio manager at Sterling Advisors, cautioning that the market still faces many obstacles with the Lewinsky case and the various crises abroad.
``This is not the basis for a sustained rally in and of itself,'' Lemonides said. ``There are still challenges on a global basis and you can't just wave a wand and make it go away.''
In a report that could make it easier for the Federal Reserve to fight the drag of economic crises abroad with lower interest rates, the Labor Department said wholesale prices fell 0.4 percent last month, more than analysts had expected.
Lower interest rates would help fuel new borrowing and spending. But before a speech Sept. 4 by Fed chairman Alan Greenspan, central bank officials had expressed less concern about a domestic slowdown than the inflationary risk of sparking demand.
Intel's shares rose 5, or 7 percent, to 84 after announcing late Thursday that sales have been surprisingly strong because of robust demand for semiconductors from computer makers in the United States and Europe.
Oracle, the largest maker of corporate database software, jumped 3, or 15 percent, to 25, after topping analyst profit forecasts for its latest quarter.
The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 28.87 to 1,009.06, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 56.31 to 1,641.64.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2-to-1 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, where composite volume totaled 954.85 million shares, down from Thursday's hefty 1.033 billion.
The NYSE composite index rose 12.26 to 500.03, the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 6.98 to 613.21, and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 8.65 to 353.62.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