Wall St. tries for more gains

November 12, 2001 Posted: 1603 GMT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -- A seven-week advance for the U.S. stock market faces another test Monday, a week when the market doesn't expect any of the interest-rate cuts that have helped to lift shares over the last five sessions.

Early indications point to a mixed to lower open, with Nasdaq-100 futures in negative territory including fair value, while Standard & Poor's 500 futures were little changed including fair value.

For the Dow Jones industrial average, a loss of 2.50 points or more would put the index below its Sept. 10 close, just one session after the blue chips erased the last of its post-attack losses.

U.S. stocks ended a strong week slightly higher Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average starts Monday's session at 9,608 after rising about 20 points on Friday, while the Nasdaq composite index begins at 1,828.48 after a less than 1-point advance. The Standard & Poor's 500 stands at 1,120.31 after adding 2 points.

On the week, the Dow Industrials rose 3 percent, above the Sept. 10 level of 9605.50. The Nasdaq advanced 4.7 percent over the last 5 sessions while the S&P 500 gained 3 percent.

Interest-rate cuts from the Federal Reserve and European Bank helped ignite the gains, lifting hopes for an economic rebound next year.

While economic and business news may be light Monday due to the Veterans Day holiday in the United States, the week will bring the latest reading on the key retail sector. A government report Wednesday will show retail sales data for October, while major retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores start to report third-quarter earnings data.

The week ends with a report on prices paid by consumers, the Consumer Price Index, which is the government's main inflation gauge. Last Friday's report on wholesale prices for October showed the largest drop on record.

Asian stock markets closed mixed Monday, as Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei index fell 1.3 percent to 10,081.56, while major indexes elsewhere in the region closed higher. European stocks were mostly lower in early trading.

Treasury prices were little changed in light overseas trading. The yield on the 10-year note slipped to 4.31 percent from 4.32 percent on Friday. The bond market will be closed for the Veterans Day holiday.

Jeffrey Applegate, investment strategist at Lehman Brothers, is betting against bonds. Lehman cut the bond allocation in the firm's model portfolio to 10 percent from 20 percent, saying the plunge in yields over the last year has likely run its course. He upped the cash allocation to 10 percent from zero and kept stocks at 80 percent. 

The dollar rose against the yen and euro. Brent oil futures fell 46 cents to $21.08 a barrel in London. Russia has agreed to a small cut in oil production in a symbolic move to support OPEC efforts to boost world crude prices.

The proposed $8.9 billion sale of energy trading company Enron Corp. (ENE: Research, Estimates) to Dynegy (DYN: Research, Estimates) could face tough scrutiny from antitrust regulators, according to a published report Monday.

The Wall Street Journal said that there are antitrust concerns about allowing the purchase of Enron, the nation's largest trader of natural gas and electricity, by Dynegy. Enron rose 22 cents to $8.63 Friday while Dynegy gained $2.26 to $38.76.