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Late-day rebound
leaves stocks mixed
NEW YORK >> Stocks began the week indecisively yesterday, closing mixed in the absence of earnings news to guide investors. But the major indexes managed to rebound from sizable early losses.
Analysts attributed the wavering to technical factors, not fundamentals. While the stock market was due for a correction, analysts said investors were willing to sell stocks only down to a certain point -- about 9,050 on the Dow Jones industrial average and 1,690 on the Nasdaq composite index -- based on their belief the economy is poised for good recovery in the second-half of 2003. Once those gauges fell below those points, investors began buying again.
"It is all technical. ... There is no news to account for it," said Peter Cardillo, president and chief strategist of Global Partner Securities Inc., of Wall Street's late-day turnaround.
Analysts said the gains had little if anything to do with a bigger-than-expected rise in orders to U.S. factories, because stocks had ignored the report earlier.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers 9 to 5 on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume totaled 1.61 billion shares, below Friday's 1.71 billion.
After falling as much as 105.39, the Dow closed up 32.07, or 0.4 percent, at 9,186.04.
The broader market was mixed, but also rebounded from steeper losses. The Nasdaq slipped 1.56, or 0.1 percent, to 1,714.06, having dropped as much as 27.85. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 2.67, or 0.3 percent, to 982.82, having shed as much as 13.36.
The Russell 2000 index, which tracks smaller company stocks, fell 3.31, or 0.7 percent, to 464.77.
The price of the Treasury's 10-year note closed up 3/4 point, while its yield fell to 4.28 percent from 4.41 percent late Friday. Two-year Treasury notes were up 3/16 point and yielded 1.67 percent, down from 1.79 percent late Friday.
Analysts anticipate August will be difficult for the market as investors put off big moves ahead of the fall's onslaught of economic data and traders take summer vacations.
Yesterday's economic news was upbeat. The Commerce Department reported U.S. factory orders rose by 1.7 percent in June, the biggest gain in three months and stronger than the 1.5 percent gain economists predicted.
U.S. Steel rose 73 cents to $16.31 after posting a quarterly loss of a penny a share, smaller than the 6 cent shortfall analysts anticipated. The company also said revenues jumped to $2.4 billion, compared with $1.8 billion for the second quarter of 2002.
AnnTaylor advanced $1.55 to $29.25 after Wachovia Securities raised its rating on the retailer to "outperform" from "market perform."
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