Strength in finance and technology stocks was sending U.S. markets higher Friday, although Internet issues were basically treading water as that sector’s leaders were mixed at midday.
Just after 11:30 a.m. Eastern, internet.com’s Internet Stock Index was up 3.39, or .61 percent, to 559.15, the Nasdaq Composite had gained 39.92 to 2,841.87 and the Dow Jones industrial average had jumped 137.41 to 10,435.10. IBM Corp. (IBM) was largely responsible for the Dow’s gain as the stock recovered from a bruising fall following Thursday’s earnings and Y2K warning.
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) was up 1-3/8 to 82-1/8 and barnesandnoble.com Inc. (BNBN) was up 1/8 to 18-1/2.
Amazon late Thursday sued its online competitor, accusing the company of illegally duplicating its patented 1-Click online shopping feature.
Inktomi Corp. (INKT) had plunged 17-11/16 to 102-13/16. The maker of Internet search technology was downgraded to near-term “neutral” from near-term “accumulate” by Merrill Lynch’s Henry Blodgett.
Exodus Communications Inc. (EXDS) had gained 5-1/2 to 79 despite a worse-than-expected earnings report. The company reported a third-quarter loss of 34 cents a share, including a one-time charge. Analysts had expected the company to report a 29-cent loss.
A number of analysts raised their ratings on the stock, including Morgan Stanley which increased Exodus to “strong buy” from “outperform,” Paine Webber upped its price target by $20 to $120 and maintained its “buy” rating and Thomas Weisel Partners upgraded the stock to a “strong buy” from a “buy.”
Winners included America Online Inc. (AOL), up 1-13/16 to 124-1/16, BroadVision Inc. (BVSN) had risen 3 to 192-5/8, Check Point Software (CHKP) had vaulted 5-7/8 to 104 and DoubleClick Inc. (DCLK) had gained 13/16 to 129-3/4.
Leaders in the red were Ariba Inc. (ARBA) down 10-1/4 to 164-3/4, CNET Inc. (CNET) had slumped 4-3/8 to 49-3/16, Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR) was off 7-1/4 to 251-1/2, Verisign Inc. (VRSN) was down 5-1/8 to 108-1/2 and Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) had fallen 3-5/16 to 178-5/8.
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