Stocks waver after Friday's plunge By TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writer

Stocks waver after Friday's plunge By TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writer
17 minutes ago



NEW YORK - Stocks fluctuated in early trading Monday following a sharp pullback Friday brought by concerns about the credit market and ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting Tuesday.

ADVERTISEMENT

Wall Street is looking for signs of encouragement after the fractious trading of the past two weeks. In a day devoid of economic news and with few earnings reports, investors are likely to remain cautious, especially with the Fed's meeting on interest rates slated for Tuesday. Policy makers are widely expected to hold the benchmark rate steady at 5.25 percent; as usual, the greater concern is with the Fed's economic assessment statement.

In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 40.32, or 0.31 percent, to 13,222.23.

Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 2.09, or 0.15 percent, to 1,435.15, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 2.34, or 0.09 percent, to 2,508.91.

Stocks have endured a volatile couple of weeks as troubles in the global credit markets — rooted in the rise of subprime loan defaults in the U.S. — have unfolded.

The yield on the 10-year note rose to 4.69 percent from 4.68 percent late Friday. Bond prices move opposite their yields.

In corporate news, Bear Stearns Cos. co-President and co-Chief Operating Officer Warren Spector resigned after the collapse of two hedge funds that invested in risky mortgage-backed securities. Spector was directly in charge of the investment bank's asset management business. Bear Stearns fell 85 cents to $107.49.

UnitedHealth Group Inc., the nation's second-largest health insurer, rose 40 cents to $47.90 after raising its earnings forecast for 2007 due to positive adjustments related to its Medicare business.

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. on Monday said it swung to a second-quarter profit after sales jumped 17 percent, driven by higher prices in North America and strong growth in Europe and Asia. The tire maker's results beat Wall Street's expectations. Cooper advanced 93 cents, or 4.4 percent, to $22.05.

Late Sunday, Japan's Fast Retailing Co. raised its bid by $50 million to $950 million to acquire tony clothing merchant Barneys New York. Barneys, owned by Jones Apparel Group Inc., has been the subject of a bidding war between Fast Retailing and Istithmar, a Dubai-based investment firm. Jones Apparel fell 50 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $20.01.

Crude oil futures fell $2.02 to $73.46 in preopening trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold prices fell, while the dollar moved in a mixed range against other major currencies.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 5 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 214.8 million shares.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 8.06, or 1.07 percent, to 747.36.

In trading abroad, London's FTSE 100 fell 0.02 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.18 percent and France's CAC-40 fell 1.20 percent.

Overnight, the often volatile Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.5 percent to a record 4628.11. Japan's Nikkei stock average dropped 0.39 percent at the close.

___

On the Net:

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com