03:49 PM CDT on Monday, October 6, 2003
NEW YORK — Stock prices rose moderately Monday as investors traded
cautiously following last week's big gains and in advance of earnings
reports later this week. Volume was light due to the Yom Kippur holiday.
Analysts said investors were optimistic after Friday's government report
showed a pickup in jobs for the first time in eight months. Motorola
Inc. got a boost after announcing it would spin off its semiconductor
business.
"It's very quiet. Motorola has been the best stock of the day, but
people are mostly waiting for earnings to come out," said Todd Leone,
managing director of equity trading at SG Cowen Securities.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 22.67 points, or 0.2 percent,
to 9,594.98, having gained 2.8 percent in the previous week. It was the
fourth-straight day of gains.
The broader markets also closed higher. The Nasdaq composite index
gained 12.89 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 1,893.46, following a
weekly advance of 4.9 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose
4.50, or 0.4 percent, to close 1,034.35, having risen 0.9 percent last
week.
Stocks enjoyed a boost last week after a government report showed that
businesses added new jobs in September for the first time since January.
But while investors are largely upbeat, many are wondering whether
prices are too high.
Third-quarter earnings reports will provide the most solid evidence of
whether the economy is really improving, said Joseph V. Battipaglia,
chief investment officer at Ryan Beck & Co. Results should "not just
meet expectations, but beat expectations," for the market to move
higher, he said.
"It all comes down to getting those numbers," he said.
Among the companies reporting this week are Alcoa Inc. on Tuesday,
Yahoo! Inc. on Wednesday and General Electric Co. on Friday.
Motorola rose $1.22, or 9.9 percent, to $13.50 after the company said it
would make its semiconductor unit a separately traded company to focus
on its mobile phone and other businesses.
PeopleSoft Inc. gained 62 cents to $20.43 after the software maker said
its third-quarter earnings will come in higher than its previous
forecasts.
Knight Trading Group Inc. climbed $1.85, or 15.3 percent, to $13.95
after the securities-trading firm raised its third-quarter forecast,
citing an improvement in trading.
Losers included Duane Reade Inc., which fell $3.31, or 19.4 percent, to
$13.80, after the drug store chain lowered its estimates for the third
quarter and the year, blaming slow sales.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 3 to 2 on the New York Stock
Exchange. Volume was light.
The Russell 2000 index, which tracks smaller company stocks, rose 4.45,
or 0.9 percent, to 516.73.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average finished 0.3 percent higher
Monday. In Europe, France's CAC-40 declined 0.5 percent, Britain's FTSE
100 fell 0.1 percent and Germany's DAX index dropped .4 percent.
----
On the Net:
New York Stock Exchange:
www.nyse.com
Nasdaq Stock Market:
www.nasdaq.com
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
You must be logged in to contribute. Log in | Register Now!
You are logged in as screenname | Log Out
You are logged in, but do not have a "screen" name. Create a Screen Name