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Dow up 85;
Associated Press
Nasdaq drops 188NEW YORK - The Nasdaq composite index fell sharply today as investors once again moved money out of newer technology stocks and into shares of more established computer makers and old-fashioned industrial companies. The Nasdaq index was down 188.13 at 4,610.00. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 85.01 at 10,680.24. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 7.84 to 1,456.63.
Decliners beat advancers by an 8-to-7 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,567 down, 1,379 up and 482 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 917.61 million shares vs. 1.3 billion on Friday. The NYSE composite index fell 1.84 to 631.14; the American stock exchange composite slipped 4.73 to 1,006.27; and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 25.57 to 549.20.
The 30-year Treasury bond's price rose 6/32, or $1.88 per $1,000 face amount; its yield fell 1 basis point to 6.00 percent, the lowest level since Sept. 24. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note fell 2 basis points to 6.17 percent, the lowest since Dec. 13.
The Dow and the Nasdaq diverged as investors drew money out of lesser-known names in the software and biotechnology groups and poured it into the largest, most dominant technology companies. Hewlett-Packard, Intel and IBM led the Dow's advance. "Given the very high prices of many of these stocks, people who want to be heavily invested in technology are believing that maybe they should stick with the tried and true," said Richard A. Dickson, a technical analyst at Scott & Stringfellow Inc. in Richmond, Va.
MicroStrategy, a maker of software used in electronic commerce, lost more than half its value after the company revised its financial results for 1998 and 1999. The change came after MicroStrategy altered the way it recognizes revenue to comply with current requirements of the Securities & Exchange Commission.