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Dow gains 21.72;
Associated Press
Nasdaq soars 71.33NEW YORK -- Stocks ended a highly volatile session mostly higher today as investors rewarded companies that posted strong earnings reports for the final quarter of 1999.
But market averages pitched wildly as the threat of rising interest rates convinced many investors that corporate profits may be pinched later this year.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 21.72 to close at 11,029.89. The blue-chip index dropped as much as 124.72 points earlier in the session and had appeared to be on track for its sixth consecutive decline.
Broader stock indicators also bounced back from major losses to finish higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 8.12 to 1,410.03 and the Nasdaq composite index rose 71.33 to 4,167.41. Decliners outnumbered advancers by a 7-to-5 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,772 down, 1,243 up and 483 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 1.06 billion shares vs. 1.10 billion yesterday. The NYSE composite index fell 0.41 to 624.83, the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 9.87 to 915.36 and the Russell 2000 index fell 1.38 to 521.57. The 30-year bond rose 1/8, or $1.25 per $1,000 face amount, to a price of 93 13/32 and is up 1 over the past three days. Its yield fell 1 basis point to 6.64 percent, the lowest level since Jan. 10, and down 14 basis points from a 2-year intraday high last week. Next week, the Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates a quarter-percentage point in its latest move to slow the economy.