Technology buying boosted the overall stock
market Thursday as investor confidence in the badly battered sector
seemed to be growing.
Tech stocks rose even with the expected release later in the day
of earnings from Hewlett-Packard and Dell Computer. Still, analysts
cautioned against reading too much into the upturn.
"I'm not sure that the earnings of Hewlett-Packard and Dell
matter anymore. Everyone expects sloppy earnings," said Peter
Anderson, chief investment officer at American Express Financial
Advisors. "We're in a trading range. We're going to have periodic
rallies that are quite strong and then corrections that are quite
nasty. This is part of that pattern."
In late afternoon trading on Wall Street, the tech-focused
Nasdaq composite index rose 74.78 to 2,566.18, extending its gains
from the previous session.
Other market indicators were also higher. The Dow Jones
industrial average advanced 89.46 to 10,884.87, reversing most of a
107-point loss Wednesday. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index
gained 10.88 to 1,326.80.
The market's gains appeared to come chiefly from technology
stocks. The Dow was lifted by IBM, up $2.44 at $117.54, and Intel,
up $1.88 at $36. Hewlett-Packard, also a Dow stock, climbed $2.26
to $36.65.
On the Nasdaq, Cisco Systems rose $1.56 to $30.94, and Juniper
Networks shot up $6.75 to $96.13. Ahead of its earnings report,
Dell advanced $1.81 to $24.75.
Another sign that investors are feeling better about the tech
sector could be seen in the issues they sold lower Thursday.
Investors bid down safer blue chips they have been buying amid the
slowing economy and sluggish earnings. Merck fell $2.24 to $77.39,
and Coca Cola tumbled $2.24 to $57.26.
Also Thursday, Labor Department statistics showed unemployment
claims fell slightly last week but were still at a level suggesting
some workers were having trouble finding jobs in the weakening
economy.
The data is the latest evidence that slower economic growth is
curbing business activity. Stocks spent the last quarter of 2000
falling on speculation that growth was slowing too quickly. Now
worries about when the economy — and corporate profits — will
improve have investors shifting in and out of the market's sectors
in hopes of finding some gains and minimizing losses.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 8 to 7 on the New York
Stock Exchange, where volume came to 871.60 million shares, ahead
of 855.23 million at the same point Wednesday.
The Russell 2000 index, which tracks the performance of smaller
company stocks, rose 4.82 to 508.31.
