Wall Street: Wednesday close

LATE buying lifted markets out of their slump ahead of the Independence Day holiday, a time traditionally dedicated to backyard barbecues and Main Street parades.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average erased a triple-digit loss to finish with a gain of 47.22 points or 0.52% to 9054.97. The Nasdaq Index, which earlier had touched a new five-year low, closed up 22.35 points or 1.65% to 1380.17.

Analysts said that short-covering may have fed the rally as investors squared up positions prior to what for many will be a four-day break. Markets will be closed today and open for only half a session's trading on Friday.

The late turn in sentiment erased what had been termed a 'buyers' strike'. 'There are reasons not to hold shares over the holiday, what with the threat of terrorism and sinking confidence, and few reasons to buy,' said one analyst. One broker speculated that if no terrorism occurred during the one-day market break, then Friday's half-day of trading could provide 'a relief rally'.

The relief rally appeared to come early, with a bounce back in battered media and tech shares leading the way. While Vivendi gave up another $2.10 or 12% to $15.66, others in the sector gained strength as the day wore on. AOL Time Warner leapt $1.55 or 12% to $140.6 News Corp. regained 49 cents or 2.3% to $21.98.

Techs came back from a sharp early decline, led by Microsoft, up $1.08 or 2% to $52.45 and Intel. higher by $1.18 or 7% to $17.75. Brushed aside was another earnings warning from Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices. AMD shares fell 37 cents or 4.2% to $8.43.

Among other techs on the mend were Oracle, advancing 87 cents or 11% to $9.55, and Sun Microsystems, gaining 50 cents or 11.4% to $4.89.

In a sign that Wall Street's recent weakness might be rippling through the economy, Tweeter Home Entertainment, which makes high-definition and large screen TVs, said its business was suffering and its shares dropped $3.50 or 26% to $9.95. 'Our sales have frequently shown a high degree of correlation with major moves in the overall stock market, and we believe this accounts for much of the top line degradation in June,' said chief financial officer Joe McGuire.

Shares in WorldCom, which will be delisted from the Nasdaq on Friday, jumped 12 cents or 120% to 22 cents after telecoms company IDT expressed interest in buying WorldCom.