Stocks end mixed
after anthrax scare

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By Lisa Singhania
Associated Press

NEW YORK >> Wall Street demonstrated its ability to absorb bad news again today as stocks finished mixed despite reports of another anthrax case, this time in New York City.

While news of the case initially sent stocks down sharply, it failed to derail the market's ongoing rebound from the massive selloff that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Even though analysts cautioned that the market's problems remain considerable, particularly with a slew of quarterly earnings reports due out in the next two weeks, they said the relatively mild response was a good sign.

"The market's shown an amazing amount of resiliency," said Todd Clark, co-head of trading at WR Hambrecht. "While we were due for a little bit of a pullback given the advance we've had, the news backdrop today suggested the market could have done a lot worse. I am surprised, but I'm glad."

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 66.29 at 9,344.16, recovering from a drop of as much as 216 points when the anthrax report first came out. The decline cut short a two-day winning streak that saw the investor benchmark rise more than 350 points.

Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 5.78 to 1,091.65, while the Nasdaq composite index gained 1.93 at 1,703.40.

Decliners led advancers 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,858 down, 1,221 up and 195 unchanged. Volume came to 1.31 billion shares.

The NYSE composite index fell 3.81 to 561.98, the American Sotck Exchange composite index lost 7.60 to 827.33 and the Russell 2000 index dropped 2.45 to 428.59.

For the week, the Dow gained 2.5 percent, the Nasdaq climbed 6.1 percent and the S&P recouped 1.9 percent.

The Treasury's 2-year note rose 2/32 to 99 29/32; its yield fell 4 basis points to 2.79 percent. The 10-year note was unchanged at 102 20/32; its yield stayed at 4.66 percent. The 30-year bond fell 11/32 to 99 1/4; its yield rose 2 basis points to 5.42 percent.

The Dow has now recovered 80 percent of its loss from the selloff following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The S&P is shy by less than a point of its Sept. 10 close, while the Nasdaq has topped the month-ago level.

The New York anthrax case today came days after three other exposures were reported in Florida, including one fatality. Some companies suffered as a result. UPS dropped $1.84 to $50.95 as investors pulled back from companies associated with parcel or mail delivery. The anthrax cases have all been reportedly linked to mail.

But most of the stock losses appeared related to broader economic doubts. Financial stocks fell on worries that the weak economy will hurt spending. Companies with significant credit card businesses were particularly weak. Providian dropped $6.90 to $13.45 after lowering its quarterly forecast.

Retail stocks fell on concerns that consumers would spend less. Retail sales overall were dismal in September, although not as horrible as some had projected. Among the biggest losers today: Home Depot, which was off $1.42 to $41.68.

Tech stocks fared better. Microsoft closed up 6 cents at $56.38. Juniper Networks rose $4.42 to $21.06 after the company said fourth-quarter earnings and revenue will be even with the third quarter, higher than analysts' expectations.

Also today, the Labor Department reported that wholesale prices rose by an unexpected 0.4 percent in September as the price of gasoline and other energy products posted a second straight month of large gains.

But the market also got some good news with a University of Michigan survey reportedly showing mid-October consumer sentiment rising to 83.4 from 81.8 in late September, suggesting that consumers are holding their own. That data is important, because consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of the economy.