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Wednesday, Sep. 16, 1998
Winning streak: 3 days of gains for Dow Jones
Longest rally since early August pushes index past 8,000 mark
Associated Press
NEW YORK - Stocks extended their rebound Tuesday as another day lacking in bad news helped Wall Street muster enough confidence to post its first three-session winning streak since early August.
The Dow Jones industrial average overcame an early 63-point deficit and rose 79.04 to 8,024.39, extending a rally that began on Friday to nearly 410 points, or 5.4 percent.
Broader stock measures also shook off some mild profit-taking in the unusually calm session.
The three-session advance, the first since Aug. 5-7, has put the Dow back above its 1998 starting point of 7,908.25, but the index of 30 major companies is still about 1,300 points, or 14 percent, below the July 17 peak of 9,337.97.
In returning above 8,000, the Dow had its highest close since Aug. 28.
Market sentiment has improved in recent days amid hopes the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates to counter the drag of economic crises overseas. Latin American markets, which have been battered recently, soared Tuesday on promises of economic help from industrialized nations.
Although the threat of impeachment still hangs over the market, there's less fear of potential market-moving surprises now that Kenneth Starr's allegations against President Clinton have been publicized.
``There's a growing realization that the world isn't coming to an end and that some stocks are attractive and should be bought,'' said Buzz Hussey, a market analyst at Dain Rauscher Wessels in Dallas. He cautioned that the market still faces many question marks: ``I would be surprised to see this thing blow away on the upside. You still have a lot of negative news to work through.''
While Tuesday's gains were more modest than those on Friday and Monday, there was no rush to sell when the market opened lower, a sharp contrast with the suspicious attitude that's cut short just about every rebound attempt.
``The market will probably stay in a trading range, but the dramatic fear and selling is absent,'' said Robert Stovall, president of Stovall/Twenty-First Advisers. ``It underscores the amazing amount of cash out there.''
American Express, which had been pummeled in recent weeks amid worries about the financial sector's exposure to foreign markets, helped lead the Dow's advance for a third straight session, rising 3 to 84. Likewise, J.P. Morgan rose 2 to 94 to lift the Dow, which also drew a boost from Merck, up 3 to 135.
The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 7.96 to 1,037.68, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 12.42 to 1,678.11.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 4-to-3 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume continued to ease from the hectic pace of recent weeks. About 866.37 million shares of NYSE-listed stocks changed hands, up slightly from Monday's 751.12 million.
The NYSE composite index rose 3.71 to 513.92, and the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 4.98 to 624.28. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was unchanged at 357.73.
In Europe, Frankfurt's DAX index fell 1.3 percent and London's FT-SE 100 rose 0.2 percent. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.
There was little reaction Tuesday morning to a report showing that retail sales rose a mild 0.2 percent in August after dropping by 0.6 percent during July, when the General Motors strike was cutting into auto sales.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