Stocks mixed as investors
buy blue chips

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By Amy Baldwin
Associated Press

NEW YORK >> Wall Street ended an uninspiring earnings week with another lackluster session today, as investors bought safer blue chips and once again shied away from tech stocks.

Wall Street was encouraged by a brokerage house upgrade of Microsoft and some better-than-expected results from companies including Sun Microsystems and International Paper.

But at the same time, "there is a lack of enthusiasm here, a lack of greed, a lack of confidence about the market's future," said A.C. Moore, chief investment strategist for Dunvegan Associates.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended a lightly traded session up 51.83 at 10,257.11.

The broader market was mixed. The Nasdaq composite index fell 5.60 to 1,796.83, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index inched up 0.70 to 1,125.17.

Advancers beat decliners on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,740 up, 1,388 down and 235 unchanged. Volume was 1.18 billion shares. The NYSE composite index rose 0.83 to 593.78, the American Stock Exchange composite index gained 1.09 to 924.72 and the Russell 2000 index fell 1.17 to 517.40.

The Treasury's 2-year note was unchanged at 100 1932; its yield stayed at 3.31 percent. The 10-year note stayed at 97 1832; its yield remained at 5.19 percent. The 30-year bond rose 532 to 95 2032; its yield fell 1 basis point to 5.69 percent.

Microsoft, a Dow stock, climbed 83 cents to $57.20 after Merrill Lynch raised its rating to "buy" from "neutral," citing in part an attractive share price. The upgrade and the advance came despite Microsoft's weaker-than-expected fiscal third-quarter profits, released late yesterday, and its warning of lower earnings for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2003. There was some debate among Wall Street analysts over whether Microsoft's results really were below what they'd expected.

Another tech winner was Sun Microsystems, which rose 63 cents to $9.15 after posting a fiscal third-quarter loss that was smaller than expected and reaffirming it expects to return to profitability this quarter.

International Paper, a Dow stock, rose 84 cents to $42.17 after beating analysts' earnings expectations by 5 cents a share.