Market Wrap-up: Market Stumbles On Interest Rate Fears

The markets started the week off in a slump as investors feared rising interest rates. The Dow sank 50.34 to 10,860.62, while the Nasdaq fell 73.21 to 2619.19. The S&P 500 dipped 9.18 to 1347.76.

Internet companies took a hit today, extending their decline from last week. America Online dropped 8-1/4, or 7.6%, to 99-11/16, after falling 10% last week. Yahoo fell 7.9%, or 11-7/16, to 134 5/16. Other portal sites such as Lycos dropped as well. Lycos declined 6-3/4, or 7.11%, to 88-3/16.

Services companies also performed poorly. EDS and Computer Sciences Corp., both of which are expected to announce earnings this week, fell 2-1/8. EDS closed at 62-3/8, while CSC closed at 67-5/16. Whittman-Hart, a services firm focused on midsize enterprises, fell 10.8%, or 2-3/4, to 22-5/8. The company announced strong second-quarter earnings last week.

Data General, however, climbed 3.6%, or 1/2, to 14-1/2 after announcing its third-quarter results for fiscal 1999, which ended June 26. The company reported revenues of $355.9 million and a net loss of $3.1 million, or 6 cents a share. The results greatly improved from the year-ago quarter, when the company reported a net loss of $155 million, or $3.15 per share, on revenue of $351.3 million.

Other hardware vendors didn't escape the market climate. Hewlett-Packard dropped 2-1/16 to 105 11/16, while IBM was down 1-13/16 to 123.