|
Wall Street looks up
|
 |
November 19, 1998: 10:10 a.m. ET
Stocks advance as investors take a positive look at world economy
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - U.S. stocks opened higher Thursday, helped by a rising feeling of economic security around the world after two political parties in Japan formed a recession-fighting coalition and the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates earlier this week.
At around 10 a.m., the Dow Jones industrial average was up 36.56 points to 9,077.67. On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,273 stocks advanced and 830 declined on trading volume of 72 million shares.
The Nasdaq Composite gained 20.04 to 1,917.48, and the S&P 500 index rose 4.83 to 1,149.31.
Despite a slump in the Tokyo stock market, investors around the world felt more confident after Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party formed an alliance with the Liberal Party, triggering speculation that the country's efforts to pull itself out of a recession will accelerate and become more effective.
The bond market edged mostly higher, helped by a higher-than-expected reading on the weekly jobless claims report and stronger-than-anticipated October housing starts data. The benchmark 30-year Treasury bond rose 1/32 of a point in price for a yield of 5.26 percent.
The dollar fell against both the Japanese yen and the German mark.
Dogs and stars among the techs
In the stock market, technology and Internet issues once again attracted most of the attention, putting in a mixed performance.
Shares of online audio and video software maker RealNetworks (RNWK) tumbled 2-7/8 to 40 after late Wednesday software titan Microsoft (MSFT) announced it would start selling its minority stake in the company immediately. Shares of Microsoft inched up 9/16 to 110-5/16.
Elsewhere in the web world, Netscape (NSCP), the browser maker-cum-web portal, extended its gains from Wednesday that stemmed from an announcement of a planned partnership with America Online (AOL). Netscape gained 4-1/8, or 10.5 percent, to 43-3/8, and AOL rose 5-1/4 to 89.
But in related news, shares of Internet search engine Infoseek (SEEK) tumbled 1-1/2 to 35-1/2 after Netscape said it was considering dumping its contract with the company.
Shares of satellite company PanAmSat (SPOT) tumbled 1-7/8 to 39-13/16 after the firm said battery problems on its satellites may cause clients to cancel their contracts. 
-- by staff writer Malina Poshtova Zang
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
