Hi-tech sell-off drowns Dow [CNN]

[Jim Choate]

Forwarded message:

>    Dow drowns in tech sell-off

>    Blue chips shed over 130 points in second straight day of steep
>    declines

>    October 24, 1997: 5:37 p.m. ET

>    NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Tumbling technology stocks and lingering concerns
>    over the fate of the Hong Kong market dealt a heavy blow on U.S. stock
>    markets Friday with the Dow industrials suffering severe losses for
>    the second day in a row.
>    [INLINE] Dow Jones industrial average closed 132.36 points lower at
>    7,715.41 after starting the day as high as 7,939.61. The blue-chip
>    index lost 0.75 percent Friday and ended the week 1.69 percent, or
>    132.61 points, below last week's close.
>    [INLINE] In broader markets, the technology-laden Nasdaq was down
>    20.33, or 1.22 percent, at 1,650.92, 15.96 points lower on the week.
>    The S&P 500 index fell 9.06 at 941.63, ending the week 2.54 points
>    down.
>    [INLINE] On the New York Stock Exchange declines led advances, 1,508
>    to 1,337, with almost 680 million shares changing hands.
>    [INLINE] Friday's market collapse was triggered by a heavy sell-off in
>    technology stocks after several downgrades in semiconductor stocks and
>    a plant-delay announcement by Intel.
>    [INLINE] Spectrian (SPCT) led losers trading on the Nasdaq, plunging
>    15-7/8 to close at 26-1/4. The stock was downgraded by Morgan Stanley
>    to "neutral" from "outperform" and by UBS Securities to "hold" from
>    "buy" on concerns over future orders. Those worries appeared to
>    outweigh the company's report of 60 cents per share in quarterly
>    earnings, beating Wall Street estimates of 53 cents. The company makes
>    power amplifiers for wireless communications firms.
>    [INLINE] UBS downgraded several other semiconductor stocks, because of
>    concerns over the Asian currency crisis' effect on sales. Among these
>    stocks, Applied Materials (AMAT), closed 3-3/4 lower at 33-1/4,
>    topping the most actively traded list on Nasdaq with over 61 million
>    of the company's shares changing hands. Novellus (NVLS), down 3 at
>    48-3/8, and CFM Technologies (CFMT), off 5-5/8 at 23, were also in the
>    list of downgraded companies and suffered declines.
>    [INLINE] Other technology stocks that took a beating Friday included
>    Intel (INTC), down 1-7/8 at 80, after the company said it would
>    postpone the opening of a $1.3 billion Texas semiconductor plant.
>    Intel said a decline in demand for "flash" memory chips was the reason
>    behind the delay. The plant is now expected to open in late 2000.
>    [INLINE] Earlier in the day, an almost 7 percent gain in Hong Kong's
>    Hang Seng index following Thursday's record point decline spread over
>    into European markets and later also on Wall Street. The Hang Seng
>    gained 718.04 points to close at 11,144.34 in what was its
>    second-biggest one-day point gain.
>    [INLINE] But the good news from Asia was soon outweighed by concerns
>    over the future direction of the Hong Kong market. This, coupled with
>    Wall Street's technology woes, led to a tumble in other world markets
>    too. In London, the FTSE 100 index closed off 21.3 at 4,970.2, and in
>    Paris the CAC-40 ended down 7.84 at 2,849.03. Frankfurt's DAX, the
>    only major index to finish the day in positive territory, gained 73.61
>    to 4,050.87.
>    [INLINE] U.S. bond markets also had a choppy day Friday as the Hong
>    Kong-inspired flight to quality came to an abrupt end. The benchmark
>    30-year Treasury closed 12/32 higher to yield 6.28 percent after
>    testing both sides of unchanged.
>    [INLINE] Gold company shares weighed on the market as well, down
>    steeply following news of a Swiss proposal to sell 1,400 metric tons
>    of gold as part of an overhauling of the Swiss constitution. Shares of
>    Newmont Mining (NEM) fell 3-3/8 to 41-9/16, Barrick Gold (ABX) dropped
>    1-15/16 to 21-5/8, and Homestake Mining (HM) was off 1-7/16 at
>    13-13/16.
>    [INLINE] Among other market movers, cosmetics giant Avon (AVP) was up
>    sharply after its stock was upgraded by several Wall Street firms.
>    Smith Barney raised its rating of the company to "buy" from
>    "outperform," Goldman Sachs raised it to "outperform" from "perform"
>    and PaineWebber raised it to "attractive" from "neutral." Avon shares
>    closed 6-7/8 higher at 73-3/4.
>    [INLINE] Other net gainers included Amazon .com (AMZN). Shares in the
>    on-line book retailer rose 6-5/16 to 60-5/16 because its third-quarter
>    loss was lower than expected.
>    [INLINE] Topping the NYSE's most-active-shares list: Boeing (BA),
>    which slipped 9/16 to close at 48-1/2. The company reported an
>    expected loss of 72 cents a share in the third quarter, compared with
>    a profit of 48 cents in the third quarter last year. Boeing's loss
>    included a $1.6 billion charge related to severe production delays.
>    [INLINE] IBM (IBM), after posting gains early in the day, succumbed to
>    the technology sector's decline and lost 2-1/4 to 98-1/8. Among other
>    stocks that took a hit were Texas Instruments (TXN) which plummeted 9
>    to close at 111-7/8.
>    [INLINE] Computer retailer Gateway 2000 (GTW) shares were down 1/2 at
>    30-3/4 after the company reported a loss of $107.1 million, or 68
>    cents a share, after the market close Thursday. The loss included a
>    $113.8 million pre-tax charge and compares with a profit of $60.7
>    million, or 39 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Link to top
>    [INLINE] --by staff writer Malina Poshtova Zang
>    djia
>    Dow Industrials