Dow back above 10K, but techs falter
Blue-chip stocks manage to regain their equilibrium while tech issues continue their descent as the Nasdaq composite falls 31 points to close at 1,940.78.
The Dow Jones industrial average picked up 58 points to finish at 10,031.28 after Wednesday's 317-point plunge knocked it below 10,000 for the first time since October.
Analysts credited this to some bargain-hunting and the surprisingly resilient performance of Asian markets after Wednesday's meltdown.
However, few analysts were willing to predict a particularly bright future for emotionally scarred investors.
"I don't think we're out of the woods yet. I think there will be still more tears and pain and torture before a serious reversal can take place," said Peter Cardillo, director of research at Westfalia Investments.
Nokia helped out the tech sector when it reiterated its projections for first-quarter growth while simultaneously warning that sales are slowing. Its shares gained $3.15 to $24.95 as investors applauded the report--mainly because they had been expecting much worse news after recent warnings from Motorola, off 8 cents to $14.41, and Ericsson, down 6 cents to $5.84.
Among widely held PC stocks, Dell Computer clipped 25 cents to $24.13; Gateway fell $1.18 to $14.91; Apple Computer shed 75 cents to $19.69, and Compaq Computer picked up 25 cents to finish at $18.60 ahead of its profit warning.
Oracle lost $1.31 to $14.75 ahead of its quarterly report. Microsoft trimmed 31 cents to $53.69, and Sun Microsystems ended down 38 cents to $18.06.
Ciena moved up $1.50 to $54.88 after executives made some upbeat comments during an investment conference Thursday.
Cisco Systems inched up 6 cents to $20.31. Lucent Technologies pushed up 2 cents to $11.04, and Nortel Networks closed up 53 cents to $15.90.
Nextel Partners gained $1.69 to $14.75 after the company reiterated its 2001 financial forecasts. The company's partner, Nextel Communications closed off 88 cents to $13.75 after it warned Wednesday that it would miss its first-quarter numbers.
Yahoo shares lost 31 cents to $15. America Online Time Warner gained 55 cents to $40.59, while eBay and Amazon.com rose 63 cents and 38 cents a share, respectively. CMGI shares slid 28 cents to $3.
Shares of SanDisk fell $1 to $19.88 after the company said its first-quarter numbers would be "significantly lower" than expected because of a slumping economy and customer inventory corrections.
Intel shed 56 cents to $28.50. IBM tacked on 60 cents to $95.56, and Advanced Micro Devices closed off 34 cents to $23.60.
Staff and Reuters contributed to this report.