Posted at 11:50 a.m., Friday, August 9, 2002
Dow enjoys 1st 4-day win streak in months
• Hawai'i Stocks
• Updated Market Chart
Associated Press
NEW YORK Investors, feeling more confident after the market's huge three-day rally, refrained from making major moves today, allowing the three major stock indexes to all end the week higher for the first time in three months. The Dow industrials scored 700 points in their first four-day winning streak in nearly seven months.Technology enjoyed a strong weekly advance, but today was pulled lower in large part by a downgrade in the storage sector.
"There are a number of issues that are giving investors a little more confidence about putting their money to work in stocks," said Charles G. Crane, strategist for Victory SBSF Capital Management. "I think there is a realization that earnings, while maybe not on a rocket ship trajectory, are trending up."
The Dow closed up 33.43, or 0.4 percent, at 8,745.45, according to preliminary calculations.
Combined with triple-digit surges Tuesday through yesterday, the Dow has climbed 701.82 in four sessions. The Dow hasn't had four consecutive gains since the four sessions that ended Jan. 28, yielding a 90-point advance.
The broader market was mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 3.18, or 0.4 percent, to 908.64, following a three-day advance of 70.86. The Nasdaq composite index fell 10.40, or 0.8 percent, to 1,306.12, following a three-day gain of 110.51.
All three indexes ended the week higher for the first time in three months, or since the week that ended May 17. For the week, the Dow gained 5.2 percent, the S&P advanced 5.1 percent, and the Nasdaq rose 4.7 percent.
"As simple and basic as it sounds the market has some positive momentum. It always swings on emotion," said Tony Cecin, director of institutional trading at US Bancorp Piper Jaffray in Minneapolis.
The market's recent strength comes as investors are increasingly confident that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates, either at next week's meeting or in September, to keep the economy from falling back into recession.
