Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Nasdaq dives 7.6%;
Dow soars

Microsoft drags down the
tech-heavy index 349

Star-Bulletin news services

NEW YORK -- Microsoft Corp. devastated the Nasdaq composite index today, falling sharply in advance of a judge's ruling in its antitrust case and intensifying investors' stampede away from technology stocks.

But rising financial shares and a renewed clamoring for blue-chip issues helped the Dow Jones industrials soar 300.01 points, or 2.75 percent, to 11,221.93.

The Nasdaq composite index plunged 349.15, or 7.6 percent, at 4,223.68. It was easily the Nasdaq's worst point drop in history, surpassing a 229-point plunge on Jan. 4. It was also the fifth-largest one-day percentage drop for the tech-dominated index.

The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 7.39 to 1,505.97.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a slender margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,568 up, 1,488 down and 399 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 1.026 billion shares vs. 1.204 billion Friday.

The NYSE composite index rose 11.96 points, or 1.85 percent, to 659.66; the American Stock Exchange index fell 27.03, or 2.7 percent, to 978.00; and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 23.05, or 4.3 percent, to 516.04.

U.S. Treasury bond prices rebounded as the Nasdaq plunged, as investors fled to the safety of fixed-income securities. "The easiest thing to do if you want to get out of stocks is to go out and buy Treasuries," said Kenneth Willmann, who handles $23 billion in fixed-income at USAA Investment Management in San Antonio, Texas.

The 30-year bond price rose 1/4 point, or $2.50 yield per $1,000 face amount, as its yield fell to 5.81 percent from 5.84 percent on Friday. The yield on the two-year note, the most-actively traded Treasury, dropped 5 basis points to 6.42 percent, a five-week low. The five-year yield fell 4 basis point to 6.27 percent while the 10-year yield dropped 3 basis points to 5.97 percent.

In Nasdaq trading, Microsoft fell $15.37, or 14.75, to $90.87 as the company appeared poised for harsh penalties.

Microsoft's negotiations with the government broke down on Saturday, and U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ruling came out after the market close.