Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
NEW YORK -- Investors flocked to the safety of blue chips and shied away from the tech sector today while awaiting the Federal Reserve's anticipated interest rate cut. Dow soars 179
Associated Press
Analysts said investors put off major high-tech purchases, wanting to be sure the Fed does in fact lower rates at a two-day meeting ending tomorrow. Traders fell back into a recent pattern -- bidding up safer blue chips and buying little else -- that they've used while pondering the future health of earnings and the economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average finished sharply higher, up 179.01 points, or 1.7 percent, at 10,881.20. Stocks in so-called safe haven sectors, namely consumer products, accounted for the Dow's big advance. Broader indicators fluctuated. The Nasdaq composite index closed essentially unchanged, up 0.01 at 2,838.35, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 9.56 to 1,373.73. Advancers beat decliners 8 to 5 on the New York Stock Exchange with 1,860 up, 1,241 down and 199 unchanged where volume was 1.14 billion shares, vs. 1.03 billion yesterday. The NYSE composite gained 6.01 to 664.19; the American Stock Exchange composite rose 7.63 to 934.28; and the Russell 2000 index rose 3.75 to 511.66.
The 10-year Treasury note's price was up 19/32 point, or $5.94 per $1,000 in face value; its yield fell to 5.22 percent from 5.30 percent late yesterday.
The 30-year bonds were up 1 14/32 point and yielded 5.59 percent, down from 5.69 percent late yesterday.
While Wall Street expected a 0.5 percentage point reduction in interest rates, which would be the second such rate cut this month, the market also wondered how long it would take for the slumping economy and disappointing corporate earnings, particularly in the tech sector, to benefit.