Newsgroup: it.economia.borsa
Titolo: U.S. stocks steady in late trade, techs up, Dow lags

U.S. stocks steady in late trade, techs up, Dow lags
2101/2000   21:00
(Updates to late afternoon, changes byline)
    By Kristin Roberts
    NEW YORK, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Technology stocks continued to
defy gravity in late trading on Friday as Internet and biotech
names looked poised to push the record-setting Nasdaq to its
first close above the 4,200 mark while blue chips lagged.
    Rising oil prices weighed on transport stocks and other
cyclicals, including retailers, and fanned fears that the U.S.
Federal Reserve may enact big rate hikes to ward off
inflation.
    "Higher oil prices are not helping," said Guy Truicko,
portfolio manager at Unity Management in Garden City, N.Y.
"Higher oil prices means higher inflation, putting more
pressure on the Fed to do something about interest rates."
    The Nasdaq composite index <.IXIC> climbed 38 points, or
0.91 percent, to 4,227. Any positive close will be Nasdaq's
third record of the week.
    But, the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> slid 62
points, or 0.55 percent, to 11,288, extending losses that began
Tuesday and have shaved about 4 percent from the index. The
broader Standard and Poor's 500 index <.SPX> was nearly
unchanged, off 0.01 point at 1,445.
    "Every day that goes by when Nasdaq goes up and the rest of
the stocks erode, it's more of an excuse for people to sell
(holdings) and buy Nasdaq (shares)," said Larry Rice, chief
investment officer at Josephthal Lyon & Ross. "It's the same
familiar story, it just continues."
    Analysts said trading was volatile because of Friday's
"double witching" expiration of stock and index options. Volume
was strong and Nasdaq logged 1.48 billion shares by late
trading.
    In general, oil prices and a cold snap in the U.S.
Northeast led utility and oil company stocks higher while
transportation stocks, building materials and forest products
companies were under pressure.
    Wall Street was keeping tabs on oil, with crude contracts
for delivery in March at $28.75 a barrel on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. It was up 78 cents amid of a bout of
severely cold weather and concerns about low petroleum
inventories in the United States and Europe after hitting a
nine-year high of $29.95 a barrel late Thursday.
    The benchmark U.S. Treasury 30-year bond strengthened, up
10/32, pushing the yield down to 6.72 percent from Thursday's
closing level of 6.75 percent, which matched a two-and-a-half
year high.
    Among the big movers, Enron Corp. , North America's
biggest marketer of natural gas and electricity, rose 4-5/8 to
71-7/8 after announcing a deal with Sun Microsystems to help
Enron expand its Internet-based fiber and satellite
communications network.
    Utilities KN Energy Inc.  gained 4-11/16 to 42-5/16
and Montana Power Co.  climbed 3-5/16 to 43-1/8 after
hitting a high of 85-7/8. Dow component Exxon Mobil Corp.
 gained 1-9/16 at 85-1/16.
    Among technology sectors, biotechnology shares jumped. The
American Stock Exchange's biotech index <.BTK> rose 2.44
percent to 481, a new high.
    Internet companies got a boost after software giant
Microsoft Corp.  said it would invest $100 million in
VerticalNet Inc. , which runs Web sites that let
business buy and sell supplies. VerticalNet rocketed up
42-11/32 to 235-29/32, a new high.
    But Microsoft, like many other bellwethers, was weaker. The
Dow component slipped 1-1/2 to 104-1/4.
    Lucent Technologies Inc. , the world's No. 1 provider
of telecommunications equipment, eased 15/16 to 52-11/16, after
reporting its first-quarter profits fell 23 percent, even lower
than Wall Street's expectations.
    ((Wall Street Desk, + 
212.859.1730
))

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