Techs help Dow shake the Monday blues
The Dow Jones industrial average picked up 41.03 points Wednesday to close at 7808.95 as investors shrugged off problems in international markets and regrouped.
Technology stocks were mixed as the NASDAQ composite nudged up 2.06 points to 1589.05.
IBM made one of the bigger moves Wednesday, picking up $3.31 per share to $106.44. Intel Corp. lost $1.94 per share to $76.19 after Morgan Stanley cut its earnings expectations, while Advanced Micro Devices Inc. slid 13 cents per share to $22.13.
Netscape Communications Corp. survived a downgrade from BancAmerica Robertson Stephens from "buy" to "long-term attractive," and closed unchanged at $28.50. Microsoft Corp. picked up $3.25 per share to $138.75 and Oracle Corp. gained 75 cents per share to $33.25.
Novell Inc. shares closed up 44 cents per share to $9.22 before it announced that fourth-quarter results exceeded Street estimates by a penny per share.
On the economic front, the Conference Board reported its consumer confidence index rose to 128.3 from 123.4 in October. Wall Street had expected the index to dip slightly in response to chaotic economic conditions in Asia.
Cabletron Systems Inc. slid 63 cents per share to $24.13 after it officially agreed to buy Digital Equipment Corp.'s networking unit. J.P. Morgan also cut Cabletron's rating from "buy" to "market perform." Digital shares inched up 6 cents to $49.88.
Among PC makers, Dell Computer Corp. rose $1.50 per share to $81.25 in the wake of Monday's terrific third-quarter results. Compaq Computer Corp. shed $1.38 per share to $58.63 but Gateway 2000 Inc. gained 44 cents per share to $28.19.
Major networking and telecommunications stocks recovered from Monday's dismal performance as Cisco Systems Inc. and 3Com Corp. picked up 94 cents and $1.25 per share, respectively. Bay Networks Inc. was unchanged at $29.63.
AT&T shares rose $1.13 per share to $50.44 while GTE Corp. and MCI Corp. gained 50 cents and 6 cents per share, respectively.
Even new media stocks triumphed as Yahoo! Inc. shares surged $1.94 to $50.44 and Excite Inc. gained $2 per share to $25.13. Lycos Inc. was up 63 cents per share to $28.88, but Amazon.com Inc. was off 31 cents per share to $50.44.