MARKET CLOSE: Nasdaq sets another record; Dow falters
The Dow Jones industrial average continued its slide Friday, closing off 100 points to 11,251.71 while the Nasdaq composite marched up another 45 points to close at a record high of 4,234.90.
Much of the blue-chip angst stems from the Federal Reserve Board's meeting in early February where economists expect a one-quarter percent bump in short-term interest rates. Rising oil prices didn?t help matters.
"Every day that goes by when Nasdaq goes up and the rest of the stocks erode, it's more of an excuse for people to sell (holdings) and buy Nasdaq (shares)," said Larry Rice, chief investment officer at Josephthal Lyon & Ross. "It's the same familiar story, it just continues."
Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW) shares closed off 2 1/8 to 84 7/16 after it topped analysts' estimates in its latest quarter. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) fell 2 1/4 to 103 3/4 and Oracle Corp. (ORCL) closed up 7/16 to 59 11/16.
Among widely held PC stocks, Dell Computer Corp. (DELL) closed unchanged at 43 3/4; Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) lopped off 2 3/16 to 111 5/16; Gateway Inc. (GTW) surged up 4 3/8 to 62 and Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) closed up 1 3/4 to 31 7/16.
Brooks Automation (Nasdaq: BRKS) said Friday it expects first quarter results of 23 to 25 cents a share, blasting past First Call's expectation of 6 cents a share. Its shares closed up 8 to 51 1/18.