Internet stocks were higher for the third straight day
and the Nasdaq finished at another record high on Friday as strong employment
data tamed investor fears’ of inflation.
The Labor Department reported that
the U.S. unemployment rate remained at 4.1 percent in November and the
economy added 234,000 jobs last month. The job additions came in below
economists’ forecasts of 263,000. Hourly wages, which is one of the most
widely-watched inflation gauges, climbed only 2 cents to $13.41 an hour.
internet.com’s Internet Stock Index jumped 12.00, or 1.66 percent, to
736.31, the Nasdaq Composite climbed 67.85 to 3,520.63 and the Dow Jones
industrial average soared 247.12 to 11286.18. The Dow was just shy of its
11,326.04 a record close.
Free Serve PLC (FREE)
soared 27-13/16 to 89-7/16. Goldman Sachs & Co. Friday reiterated its
“market outperform” rating.
FreeShop.com (FSHP) rocketed 9-5/8 to 22-1/2. The Internet direct marketer said Friday it
received more than 1 million orders in November. The total for the month was
more than double the number of orders in recent months.
InfoSpace.com (INSP) gained 16-1/4 to 131-1/8. The content/application company announced a
partnership with Corel Corporation (CORL). Corel
will integrate InfoSpace’s services into its application platform.
Exodus Communications (EXDS) added 4-7/8, closing at 115-13/16. Paine Webber raised their price target
from $120 to $156 and reiterated a “buy” rating.
VeriSign (VRSN) announced a partnership with INTERSAT S.A. to provide digital certificate
and public key infrastructure services in Greece, Cyprus and South Eastern
Europe. Shares of the web based security systems provider surged 11-13/16 to
206-5/8.
Shares of the personalized e-business applications company, BroadVision Inc. (BVSN), gained 9-1/2 to 109-1/2. Volpe, Brown Whelan raised their price target
to $115.
Yahoo! (YHOO) climbed 7-7/16 to 253-1/4. The search engine Friday teamed with Singapore’s
StarHub Pte. to launch a Web site catering to Singapore residents. Also,
StarHub unveiled plans for free Internet access and will launch the service
Saturday.
PurchasePro.com (PPRO) lost 5-13/16, closing at 145-7/16. The B2B e-commerce marketplace announced
its plans for a secondary offering of between 3 and 3.45 million post-split
adjusted shares of its common stock.
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