MARKETS OPEN TO NEW YEAR; STOCKS MIXED ON FIRST DAY : DOW, NASDAQ UP, OTHER INDEXES DOWN.Byline: Patricia Lamiell Associated Press Blue-chip stocks erased substantial early gains to close Monday's session slightly higher as investors, nervous that the economy could not continue to grow at its current pace, sold their holdings to book profits. Meanwhile, technology stocks carried their strong run into the new year, pushing the Nasdaq composite to its fourth record in five trading sessions. The Dow Jones industrial average Dow Jones Industrial Average The best known U.S. index of stocks. A price-weighted average of 30 actively traded blue-chip stocks, primarily industrials including stocks that trade on the New York Stock Exchange. , which gained 16.1 percent last year, closed the first trading session of this year up 2.84 at 9,184.27. The Dow was up as much as 168.64 at 9,350.07 during the late morning, threatening to challenge the record closing high at 9,374.27 last Nov. 23. The Nasdaq composite, which is heavily weighted in technology stocks, rose 15.36 to 2208.05. But other broad stock indexes fell. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 1.13 to 1228.10, the NYSE composite index NYSE Composite Index Measures all common stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange and four subgroup indexes: Industrial, Transportation, Utility, and Finance. The index tracks the change in market value of NYSE common stocks, adjusted to eliminate the effects of new listings fell 1.69 to 594.12, and the American Stock Exchange American Stock Exchange (AMEX) Stock exchange in the U.S. Originally known as “the Curb,” it began as an outdoor marketplace in New York City c. 1850. It moved indoors to its present location in the Wall Street area in 1921. composite index Composite Index A grouping of equities, indexes or other factors combined in a standardized way, providing a useful statistical measure of overall market or sector performance over time. Also known simply as a "composite". fell 5.38 to 683.61. The Russell 2000 index Russell 2000 Index An index measuring the performance of the 2,000 smallest companies in the Russell 3000 Index, which is made up of 3,000 of the biggest U.S. stocks. The Russell 2000 serves as a benchmark for small-cap stocks in the United States. of smaller companies eased 0.70 to 421.26. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 6-to-5 margin on the New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. , where volume was strong at a revised 1.07 billion shares as of 4 p.m., up from Thursday's session. The stock market was closed last Friday in observance of the New Year holiday. Buyers descended at the opening bell in the hope of profiting from investors putting year-end bonuses and cash reserves to work in the new year. But they retreated in early afternoon following a speech by Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Jack Guynn. Addressing the Atlanta Rotary Club, Guynn warned that the ``institutionalization Institutionalization The gradual domination of financial markets by institutional investors, as opposed to individual investors. This process has occurred throughout the industrialized world. of unrealistic expectations'' could have a negative impact on the U.S. economy. He said the economy's recent performance is exceptional, and that ``consumers, businesses, investors and policy-makers should not proceed as though'' it could keep growing at its current pace. Blue-chip computer stocks were mixed, with Dow component IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) losing 1.3750 to 183, but Hewlett-Packard finishing up .6250 at 68.9375. Traders said the stock was correcting for a last minute surge Thursday before the stock was added to Standard & Poor's 500 composite index. Investors brushed off a new report showing a slowing economy. The National Association of Purchasing Management said manufacturing activity slowed in December for the seventh straight month, declining at a faster rate than economists had expected. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (Color) Ten bulls dash down Wall Street on Monday in the second annual Running of the Bulls. Richard Drew/Associated Press |
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