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Stock mania grips investors

WorldCom's $30 billion bid for MCI Corp. ignited the broader markets Wednesday, sending the Dow above the 8000 mark for the first time since August 20.
Written by Larry Barrett, Contributor

WorldCom's $30 billion bid for MCI Corp. ignited the broader markets Wednesday, sending the Dow above the 8000 mark for the first time since August 20.

The Dow ended up 70.24 points, or 0.9 percent, at 8015.50 while the NASDAQ rose 4.61 points to close at 1690.30.

Telecommunications stock benefited most from Wednesday's news, as MCI Corp. surged $5.94 per share to $35.31, GTE Corp. rose $1.50 per share to $46.88 and Sprint gained $2.13 to $52.13.

British Telecom, which has been awaiting regulators approval of its deal with MCI, shot up $5.38 per share to $72. BT investors were undoubtedly encouraged by the WorldCom proposal considering BT owns 20 percent of MCI.

Shares of Brooks Fiber Properties Inc., which was acquired Wednesday by WorldCom for $2.6 billion in stock, rose $8 per share to $54.69.

Microsoft Corp. shares gained $1.56 per share to $133.88 after releasing its latest version of Internet Explorer 4.0. Shares of browser rival Netscape Corp. lost $1.44 to $34.56.

Among hardware companies, Compaq Computer Corp. closed up 63 cents per share to $75.38 and Dell Computer Corp. rose $2.50 per share to $99.38. Quantum Corp. lost $2.38 per share to $35.94 while fellow disk drive marker Seagate Technology slid back 56 cents to $35.68.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which pre-announced lower-than-expected earnings Tuesday, lost $5.56 per share to $27 while Intel gained 93 cents to $93.25.

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