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Closing Market Report

Star-Bulletin news services

Friday, December 17, 1999

Dow up 12.54

Associated Press

Tapa

NEW YORK - Reports of a slowing economy and strong corporate profit growth sparked a wave of buying today that briefly pushed all three major market averages into record territory. But in a highly volatile session, only the Nasdaq composite index closed with a new record.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 12.54 to close at 11,257.43. In earlier trading, the Dow rose as much as 138 points, surpassing its Aug. 25 closing record of 11,326.04.

The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 2.27 to 1,421.05. The Nasdaq composite index rose 38.00 to 3,753.06, topping yesterday's record to secure its 25th new high since Oct. 29. The index is up more than 71 percent so far in 1999.

Advancers beat decliners by an 8-to-7 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,677 up, 1,407 down and 466 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 1.35 billion shares vs. 1.07 billion yesterday.

Volume was extremely high due to a triple witching session, a once-

a-quarter event when contracts on stock options, index options, and index futures all expire. Those expirations generally cause increased volatility on Wall Street.

The NYSE composite index gained 0.11 to 631.65; the American Stock Exchange composite fell 4.06 to 828.80; the Russell 2000 index rose 0.95 to 466.21; and the Wilshire 5000 Total Market index rose 26.64 to 13,251.04.

The 30-year Treasury bond price rose 1/8 point, or $1.25 per $1,000 face amount; its yield fell 1 basis point to 6.38.

The market also got a lift after the Commerce Department said construction of new homes and apartments fell by 2.3 percent in November to the lowest level in seven months.



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