Blue Chip Rally Fades
N E W Y O R K, April 30 -- Tech stocks rose, though blue chips and the broader market fell asApril's final day brought "window-dressing" trade with littleconviction and relatively light volume.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 75.08 points,or 0.69 percent, to close at 10,734.97, according to the latestdata. But the Nasdaq Composite Index added 40.79points, or 1.97 percent, to 2,116.47. Both indexes finishedwell under earlier highs that were reached in part on news U.S.personal income rose a surprisingly large 0.5 percent in March,while consumption rose 0.3 percent, beating market forecasts.The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 3.57 points, or0.28 percent, to 1,249.48.
"The question is not, "What happened to the rally?' but whyit materialized, to begin with," said Peter Coolidge, managingdirector of equity trading at Brean Murray & Co. "There is nota lot of conviction today. It is the last day of the month, sothere may be some closing out of positions, adding to others.
"The tech market is doing better as people did not want toget caught under-invested if the economy is stabilizing. But inblue chips, there is some profit-taking from the gains ofrecent weeks," Coolidge said. He also noted the U.S. tradingvolume was light, due to holiday-shortened trading weeks inJapan, Europe and other parts of the world.
Today's trade added to the Nasdaq's big gains for themonth, with the composite index unofficially rising 15 percentin April, the fifth-best month ever, according toMarketHistory.com.
Among active issues, discount retailer Dollar General Corp. fell after it said it is investigating accountingirregularities and possibly fraudulent behavior, and will needto delay its quarterly results, annual report and annualmeeting. Dollar General slumped $7.38 to $16.50. ComputerAssociates slid $3.06 to $32.19 after The New York Timessaid the enterprise software maker has systematicallyoverstated its revenues. The company, however, defended itsbusiness and accounting practices.
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