Wall St: Monday mid-session

By THIS IS MONEY
Updated:

 

STOCKS chugged higher as investors took advantage of shares made cheaper by last week's slump and fund managers spruced up portfolios for the end of the quarter.

Tuesday marks the last day of the third quarter, which could bring swings in the stock market as money managers dress up their portfolios by dropping the quarter's losers and adding the winners.

The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index rose 18 points, or 1.05%, to 1,810. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average added 74 points, or 0.80%, to 9,387. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced 8 points, or 0.83%, to 1,005.

Trading was choppy in moderate volume as investors questioned whether the US economic recovery was healthy enough to support the market's run-up over the past six months. Hefty gains so far this year have triggered worries that share prices may have risen too far, too fast. The Nasdaq skidded nearly 6% last week to its biggest weekly loss since April 2002.

Intel rose 78 cents, or 2.8%, to $28.04. Global chip sales increased to $13.42bn in August, up 4% from July, according to the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics organisation, keeping the hard-hit industry on track for a healthy recovery.

Finland's Nokia jumped 52 cents, or 3.4%, to $15.78. Investors have shunned the cell phone maker, leaving it one of the cheapest technology stocks around, but they may be overlooking some changes in the business that could bring a new round of growth, weekly newspaper Barron's said.

Life insurer John Hancock Financial Services fell 71 cents, or 2.1%, to $33.59 after rallying on Friday. Canada's Manulife Financial agreed on Sunday to buy John Hancock for around $10.8bn and will become the second largest life insurer in North America. Manulife fell $1.22, or 4%, to $28.98 in the United States.

Computer graphics chip maker Nvidia dropped 98 cents, or 5.8%, to $15.88. Investment house Merrill Lynch said on Monday it cut its rating on Nvidia to 'sell' from 'neutral.'

Epimmune jumped 51 cents, or 18.3%, to $3.35. The company said it had received a five-year contract worth $16.7m from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to develop an HIV vaccine.

Traders are also eyeing a pair of high-profile criminal trials that throw the spotlight on the spate of financial scandals that have swept Wall Street and corporate America.

Jury selection will begin in the prosecutions of former Tyco International executives Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz, who stand accused of looting the conglomerate, and of former Credit Suisse First Boston investment banker Frank Quattrone, who is accused of interfering with probes of his high-flying stock-offering business.

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