Wall Street shares Higher in midday trade on short-term bargain-hunting
NEW YORK (AFX) - Share prices were higher, but considerably off their intraday highs, in midday trade as earlier bargain-hunting tapered as the session wore on, dealers said. At 12.10 pm, the DJIA was up 84.83 points at 9,875.92, the S&P 500 index gained 9.43 points to 1,137.86. The Nasdaq composite added 12.84 points to 1, 733.20. Dealers said the overall market mood remains negative as profit warnings and an uncertain economic outlook kept investors on the sidelines. Morgan Stanley senior trader Micheal Lyons also said the shorter week - Wall Street will be closed on Good Friday -- is making investors unwilling to take strong positions this week. "Earnings is what we are concerned about here," said Lyons. The earnings season is due to begin next week, and investors are looking for guidance about prospects for the rest of 2001. Lyons added that the technology sector, which led the early rally, gave back most of its earlier gains. Concerns about further profit warnings and overinvestment in the industry are keeping the entire area under renewed pressure. The general trend is likely to continue on its downward path as, with "some little bounces here and there," according to Lyons. He said: "A lot of money needs to be put to work to turn this thing around," signaling that as long as the earnings season will be over, money managers are likely to keep assets on the sidelines. The financial sector was higher, reflecting the general trend of the market. News that Bank One bought Wachovia's consumer credit card operations for an undisclosed amount also kept the industry in focus. Citigroup was up 0.46 at 43.21, JP Morgan gained 0.57 to 40.96. The semiconductor sector lost its earlier gains after a number of industry analysts issued research notes on various chips manufacturers. Intel, down 0.80 at 22.83, fell after influential Salomon Smith Barney analyst Jonathan Joseph cut first quarter gross margin estimates to 49 pct from 51 pct. Joseph also cut full year revenue estimate to 26.4 bln usd from 26.8 bln. Texas Instruments, down 0.95 at 27.31, moved lower after Lehman Brothers analyst Dan Niles cut calendar year 2001 EPS estimate to 65 cents from 75, while trimming calendar year 2002 EPS to 90 cents from 1.00 usd previously. Motorola fell 0.05 to 11.45 after Morgan Stanley upgraded the issue to 'strong buy' on attractive valuations. The company, which denied a cash crunch problem Friday, is scheduled to post quarterly results tomorrow. The airline sector moved broadly higher after Northwest Airlines, up 0.93 at 22.56, reached an agreement with its mechanics union. AMR, up 0.12 at 34.09, is in focus as the company nears the acquisition of TWA's assets. Among internet retailers, Amazon.com was up 2.77 at 11.14 after saying its first-quarter pro-forma net loss per share will be 22 cents. The First Call/Thomson Financial consensus estimate was for a loss per share of 30 cents. eBay was up 2.33 at 37.83, and Yahoo rose 0.82 to 15.64. In the media industry, GE was up 0.80 at 41.99, after its NBC operations agreed to acquire NBCi for 2.19 usd a share. NBCi was up 0.64 at 2.14 in pre-opening trade. Alcoa was up 1.20 at 37.60 after Morgan Stanley issued a positive note on the company following its stronger-than-expected quarterly results. The oil sector moved higher on rising gasoline prices due to a cold winter and tight supplies for natural gas. ExxonMobil gained 0.85 to 82.95, Chevron rose 1.76 to 90.98.
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