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MARKET CLOSE: Brutal week ends on bitter note

2 min read

Familiar gripes about a possible interest-rate hike paralyzed Wall Street Friday as the Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 136 points to close at 10,655.15 while the Nasdaq trimmed 2 points to end at 2,638.49.

Healthy spending and higher-than-expected personal income spurred fears the Federal Reserve policy makers could raise interest rates again at their Aug. 24 meeting. Inflation fears were fed by the government's report that average personal income climbed 0.7 percent, while news that new home sales grew 3.1 percent in June, also helped in sending the sensitive bond market south.

Dell Computer Corp. (DELL) shaved off 3/8 to 40 7/8 while Gateway Inc. (GTW) and Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) shed 1 3/16 and 3/4 a share, respectively. Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) added 1 13/16 to 55 11/16.

Intel Corp. (INTC) lost 1/2 to 69. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) lost 5/16 to 17 3/16 and International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) added 5/16 to 125 11/16.

Some technology initial public offerings met mixed results Friday. N2H2 Inc.( NTWO), which filters Internet content for schools, lost 3/16 to 12 13/16 in its debut. Net IQ Corp. (NTIQ) rose 3 3/4 after pricing at $13 a share. WatchGuard Inc. (WGRD) fell 7/8 to 12 1/8 in its first trading day.

BMC Software Inc. (BMCS) shot up 5 1/2 to 53 7/8 after reporting better-than-expected earnings Thursday.

Lam Research Inc. (LRCX) stormed up 9 to 55 3/8 after it posted better-than-expected earnings in its fourth quarter.

Network Equipment Technologies Inc (NWK) dropped 1/8 to 9 11/16 on its plans to cut its workforce by 7 percent and take a charge of between $3 million and $4 million against second quarter earnings.

Among other widely held networking stocks, Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) added 3/8 to 62 1/8 while Lucent Technologies Inc. (LU) and 3Com Corp. (COMS) each lost 3/8 a share.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) slid 1 1/8 to 85 13/16. Oracle Corp. (ORCL) was unchanged at 38 1/16 and Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW) chopped off 1/4 to end at 67 7/8.

Internet stocks were dinged up a bit Friday as Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) and America Online Inc. (AOL) lost 9/16 and 3 5/8 a share, respectively. Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) fell 1 1/2 to 100 1/16 and Lycos Inc. (LCOS) closed off 1 13/16 to 41 5/16.