US stocks end higher
Investors worried about terrorism but looking for bargains made for a fractious session on Wall Street today. The market managed a moderate gain despite anxiety over the government’s latest warning of possible attacks.
Although investors were interested in picking up cheaper stocks following two weeks of selling on concerns about earnings, stocks fluctuated throughout the session and trading volume was light.
The market’s indecisiveness was clear as stocks kept reversing direction _ falling after the government announced it was raising the nation’s terror alert level to orange, signifying a high risk of attacks, and then rising after a House committee said it was referring its investigation of Martha Stewart to the Justice Department.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 83.23, or 1%, at 8,602.61. The Dow recovered from an earlier loss of 17 points to score a three-day, 318-point winning streak.
It was the Dow’s largest advance since August 6-9 when it gained 701.82, recovering from its July 23 low of 7,702.34.
The market’s broader gauges were also higher. The Nasdaq composite index rose 15.49, or 1.7%, to 1,320.09, for a three-day advance of 69.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index advanced 6.62, or 0.7%, to 909.58, for a three-day gain of 30.
Analysts are wary of reading too much into this week, which is light on economic and earnings news and high on emotion as the US marks the one-year anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
The market was obviously nervous about the possibility of an attack around the anniversary. News that the government was raising its terror alert to the second-highest level sent prices lower at midday, and while prices recovered soon after, they fell again as Attorney General John Ashcroft held a news conference to discuss the alert.
Analysts are not expecting much, if any, progress on Wall Street this month. After the terror anniversary, companies are due to discuss where third-quarter earnings stand, and negative warnings will pressure stocks.
The New York Times Co rose 91 cents to dlrs 47.81 after confirming its third-quarter outlook and reporting that advertising revenue rose 2% in August.
Medtronic advanced 40 cents to dlrs 41.90 after the medical device maker said second-quarter revenue will come in at dlrs 1.8 billion, the upper end of its forecast.
But HJ Heinz fell dlrs 2.04 to dlrs 35.90 after Prudential downgraded the food maker to “hold” from “buy”.
Advancing issues narrowly outnumbered decliners 14 to 13 on the New York Stock Exchange where volume was light at 1.15 billion shares, compared with 1.12 billion on Monday.
The Russell 2000 index, which tracks smaller company stocks, rose 1.69, or 0.4%, to 394.16.
