Wall Street: Thursday close
WALL Street enjoyed healthy gains as concerns about terrorism warnings gave way late in the session to short-covering. The DJIA closed up 58.20 points at 10,216.08, the S&P 500 up 11.06 at 1,097.08 and the Nasdaq composite up 24.18 at 1,697.63.
The market also drew some support from encouraging durable goods and unemployment figures.
Kmart closed up 2 cents at $1.16 after revealing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission late in the day that it had to restate results for two monthly periods this year to reveal substantial losses totalling $1.02bn.
Bristol-Myers shook off early losses to close up 4 cents at $30.92 after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to an 'underweight' from an 'equal weight' rating, due to a declining likelihood that its future stock price and earnings results will contain positive surprises.
Biogen closed unchanged at $40.36 after its Amevive treatment for psoriasis was recommended for marketing approval by a US FDA panel.
3M finished up 95 cents at $128.49 after news late Wednesday it expects to post double-digit sales and earnings growth results over the next few years, even if revenues are somewhat disappointing.
Qwest closed up 7 cents at $5.10 after Standard & Poor's cut the company's debt rating to junk status and said earnings will remain under pressure going forward. S&P said continued weakness in the overall economy and increased competition will pressure Qwest's operating performance in the near-term and longer-term.
ImClone Systems finished down 40 cents at $10.50 after investors digested the news of major planned trials of its Erbitux cancer drug and the departure of chief executive Samuel Waksal.
ImClone said it and partner Bristol-Myers Squibb would run at least three big clinical trials of their embattled cancer drug Erbitux this year.
McDonald's closed down 25 cents at $30.40 after its annual shareholders meeting provided few grounds for optimism about an imminent recovery.
Ciena ended down 36 cents at $6.08 after reporting a second-quarter loss per share of $1.86, much steeper than the 21 cents loss expected by analysts. The company also forecast that its third-quarter sales would be flat with, or lower, than those of the second quarter.
Merrill Lynch closed up 50 cents at $43.50 despite news that a Philadelphia law firm said it is seeking legal certification to file a class action lawsuit against the brokerage. Merrill this week agreed to pay a $100m fine as a result of a New York State probe of its research practices.
AT&T finished up 19 cents at $13.14 after The Financial Times reported Comcast Corp sold a block of 42m AT&T stocks on Tuesday at a discount in order to raise cash and protect its ratings. Comcast ended up 31 cents at $30.16.
Sprint PCS Corp finished up 37 cents at $10.47 and Sprint Fon up 15 cents at $17.20 after The Financial Times reported that Comcast also will sell half of its stake in Sprint, as part of its efforts to protect its credit rating.
