US stocks rebound
Speculation about an earlier-than-expected interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve helped technology stocks stage a last-minute comeback today.
It gave the Nasdaq composite index its first positive finish in more than a week and closed up 17.53 at 2,262.49.
Blue chips' prospects also improved late in the day, but not enough for a positive finish. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 86.94 at 10,439.87 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 7.34 to 1,245.48.
The Nasdaq's positive finish marked a surprising end to a trading session that started on a sour note.
Investors began selling at the start after Motorola reduced its first-quarter earnings outlook for the second time in two months because of soft demand for its cell phones and computer chips.
The news compounded a warning late on Thursday from Sun Microsystems that the weak economic environment would hurt the network server manufacturer's third-quarter results.
Motorola ended the session down $1.04 to $16.25 and Sun Microsystems was unchanged at $20.81 after spending most of the day down. The announcements sent several other technology stocks reeling. Texas Instruments dropped $2.55 to $30.15.
The tech losses spilled over to the Dow as well, where IBM tumbled $4.90 to $104, after investment firm Salomon Smith Barney reduced its earnings estimates for the computer maker.
Weakness in financial and pharmaceutical stocks also pulled the blue-chip index lower. Banker JP Morgan Chase dropped $1.25 to $47.05 and Johnson & Johnson lost $1.03 to $95.49.
The Federal Reserve, which has already cut interest rates twice since January 1, is expected to lower rates again at its meeting in late March. Today, Wall Street was awash with speculation that another cut might come sooner.
