Wall Street report: Thurs close
WALL STREET shares ended nearly unchanged, with robust manufacturing figures, merger speculation and strong earnings from IBM tempered by disappointing results from Yahoo! and Intel.
Banking stocks boosted the market as news of a major merger stirred talk of more marriages in the sector. JP Morgan Chase agreed to buy Bank One for about $58bn in stock in one of the largest financial mergers in US history.
IBM reported surprisingly strong quarterly earnings and revenues, thanks to a weak dollar, and said 2004 revenues could grow faster than Wall Street estimates. Its shares rose $3.71, or 4%, to $94.02.
After Thursday's close, network computer maker Sun Microsystems posted a narrower quarterly net loss after its revenue fell less than expected.
Lacklustre forecasts from Intel and Yahoo soured investors' mood, with strong results from Apple Computer not enough to satisfy the appetite for blockbuster earnings news.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 15.48 points, or 0.15%, to 10,553.85, and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 1.53 points, or 0.14%, to 1,132.05, the highest since April 2002. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index, however, fell 2.05 points, or 0.10%, to 2,109.08.
