MORNING REPORT: Positive War News Boosts Stocks - 500 Beiträge pro Seite

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MORNING REPORT: Positive War News Boosts Stocks

Positive comments from President Bush and a report of an uprising against the Iraqi regime in the city of Basra gave positive impetus to US stocks in overnight trading. The S&P 500 index gained 10.51 (1.2%) to finish at 874.74, the Dow Jones Industrial Average put on 65.55 points (0.8%) to end at 8280.23, and the Nasdaq Composite index advanced 21.23 to 1391.01, a rise of 1.;6%. The British chief of staff at Central Command headquarters in Qatar said there were early indications of a possible uprising in Basra, though he didn`t know the scale of or reason for the uprising. The news from the Gulf bolstered a market that earlier had moved higher on a consumer confidence report that was weak but better than expected. A Senate vote to slash President Bush`s tax cut plan in half later took some of the steam out of the gains. "This is a rally with a lot more staying power than anything we`ve seen for at least the last year," said Brian Pears, head of equity trading at Victory Capital Management in Cleveland. "The news in Basra there`d been a revolt against the Iraq forces there, really cheered people a lot."Media shares gained on optimism that war coverage won`t pre-empt prime-time television programming. The S&P 500 Media Index jumped 3.5%. AOL Time Warner gained 42 cents to $11.37 and Comcast, a cable-television operator, rose $1.40 to $30.02. Walt Disney added 29 cents to $17.69, while Viacom climbed 54 cents to $39.91.Airlines rallied as crude oil prices fell and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said the industry will get aid from the government. AMR rose 17 cents to $2.25, Northwest Airlines gained 72 cents to $8.08 and Delta Air Lines climbed 29 cents to $9.81. The Nasdaq managed to hang on to most of its early gains, thanks to broad-based nibbling in a variety of technology sectors. Shares of stocks such as Oracle (up $0.27 to $11.30) and JDS Uniphase (up $0.09 to $2.92) gained 2% in active trade.Symantec, the world`s largest anti-virus software maker, advanced $1.66 to $40.75. The company will replace Household International in the S&P 500 Index.American Express dropped $1.09 to $35.26. The company may be hurt as the war in Iraq prompts business to slow spending and travel, Merrill analysts Michael Hughes and Dan Rosenbaum wrote in a note to clients. They reduced their 2003 profit forecast on American Express to $2.22 a share from $2.26. In London trading, the FTSE 100 index gained 18.7 points (0.5%) to finish the session at 3762, more than 100 points above its morning low after stocks swung into positive territory late in the day. The advance, after a 3% tumble on Monday, took the FTSE`s rally in the past nine days to almost 15%. US Treasury bonds flattened out after zigzagging throughout the session on the stock market swing. The benchmark 10-year note added 2/32 of a point in price, pushing its yield rose to 3.98%. The US dollar fell against the yen and the euro.Oil also continued to rise, but was off its best levels. Light crude futures gained 74 cents to $29.40 a barrel in New York.Gold turned lower, falling $1.20 to $328.30 an ounce in New York.

Sydney Futures Exchange

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