Bank Tech Stocks Rose Along with General Market

Bank technology stocks mostly rose last week along with the general market.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 33.1 points, to 8602.52, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 18.56, to 1771.66. Goldman, Sachs & Co.'s index of U.S.-traded technology companies-which lists many bank technology stocks- rose 3, to 162.8.

Computer Sciences Corp. of El Segundo, Calif., said it sold a second copy of its Hogan core banking system to Washington Mutual Inc., Seattle. The $89 billion-asset thrift will use the new version at a Chatsworth, Calif., data center to process for retail banking affiliates outside Washington State. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Computer Sciences stock rose $4.4375, closing Friday at $100.25.

Security First Technologies dropped $3.6875, to $9.9375, when Wheat First Union downgraded it to "outperform" from "buy." Security First reported 1997 revenues of $10.8 million, up 757%, but a net loss of $27.9 million.

The Internet banking software company agreed to sell its $52 million- asset on-line bank to Royal Bank of Canada as part of a $20 million purchase and licensing deal.

Neeraj K. Vohra, analyst at Friedman Billings Ramsey, was upbeat, saying Security First is "focused on being a technology company, which makes the story that much easier to understand on Wall Street."