Tech Stocks Boost Market Higher

NEW YORK (AP) â€” Stocks rebounded Thursday, buoyed by technology issues that rose on positive earnings reports from tech bellwethers Microsoft and Nokia. <br><br>The upturn lifted the Dow Jones industrial

Thursday, October 19th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) â€” Stocks rebounded Thursday, buoyed by technology issues that rose on positive earnings reports from tech bellwethers Microsoft and Nokia.

The upturn lifted the Dow Jones industrial average above 10,000, one day after the blue chip index fell below that milestone for the first time since March.

In midday trading, the Dow was up 103.22 at 10,078.24.

The tech-focused Nasdaq composite index also enjoyed a sharp turnaround, climbing 191.80 to 3,363.36. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 32.83 at 1,374.96.

``The old tech leaders, the new tech leaders are all bouncing back. The banks and brokerages, which had been pretty hard hit, are also bouncing fairly impressively today,'' said Charles White, portfolio manager at Avatar Associates. ``The question is, does it hold?''

Investors seemed to be looking for bargain technology stocks after having spent the last month shedding those companies on the belief they would report disappointing results.

Microsoft, which reported its earnings after the market closed Wednesday, beat Wall Street expectations by 5 cents. The software company shot up $8.88, or 15 percent, Thursday to $60.63.

Wireless communications company Nokia, which also beat analyst estimates, rose $8.31, or nearly 23 percent, to $38.31. And Texas Instruments jumped $8.44 to $45.31, after meeting analysts' third-quarter estimates, but warning revenues may slow.

Financial stocks moved higher, appearing to recover from Wednesday's selloff, including J.P. Morgan which climbed $8.88 to $143.13.

But investors were still scrutinizing earnings reports. Drug maker Eli Lilly fell $5 to $84.25 after meeting Wall Street estimates but warning of slowing growth.

Earlier in the day, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the central bank is watching oil prices carefully. He did not say how, or if, that would affect interest rates. The Fed has raised rates six times since June 1999 to slow down economic growth that it feared was reaching unsustainable levels.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by more than 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 598.65 million shares, behind the 722.80 million reported Wednesday.

The Russell 2000 index was up 10.21 at 476.42.

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On the Net:

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com