US stocks ended mixed yesterday as investors shifted out of interest rate-sensitive sectors such as banks and shifted into computer and Internet issues, which may better withstand a possible monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve. Robust economic data, including a rise in labour costs, solidified inflation fears and led to upward revisions in forecasts for Fed interest rate hikes.
The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average dropped 57.40 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 10,888.10. However, the technology-dominated Nasdaq composite index surged 143.96 points, or 3.97 per cent, to 3,774.05. That was its highest point of the day and represented a big turnaround from a 100-point slide at the opening.
Better-than-expected earnings from telecommunications group MCI Worldcom and BroadVision helped to boost the tech-driven gauge. Leading technology concerns to rise also included software giant Microsoft which advanced $1.81 to $69.81 (€76.61) and microchip powerhouse Intel up $4.50 to $125.31 (€137.52).
