Nasdaq Hits A Three
Semiconductors paced an impressive 4.6% Nasdaq rally Thursday that marked the
first three-in-a-row winning days since before Labor Day. The rally extended
beyond tech as strength in banks, brokerages, and telecom helped the S&P 500
post a modest 1% gain. The Dow finished just slightly higher.
Volume surged again as 2.75 billion shares traded on the Nasdaq, which topped
Wednesday’s level by 13%. NYSE volume of 1.35 billion shares was about 5% above
Wednesday.
Many of the small and mid-caps that had been decimated last year showed new
signs of life as traders commented on those stocks benefiting from the classic
January Effect action.
“We’re seeing strength across the board. We’re seeing a rally back in
some of the technology shares, especially the software companies. Also, the
financial sector continues to lead the market higher as a result of last week’s
move by the Fed,” said Brian Conroy, Head of Listed Trading, J.P. Morgan.
“Financials tend to be an early moving group as a result of a Fed action
like we had last week. The fact we are seeing the turnaround in the technology
sector for the second day in a row I think is very healthy for the market,”
he added.
According to preliminary numbers, the Nasdaq jumped 116.38 to 2640.56, the
Dow added 5.28 to 10,609.55, and the S&P 500 rose 13.55 to 1326.82.
Top sectors were semiconductors
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up 5.0%, and technology
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On the downside were insurance
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down 2.0%, and chemicals
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Leading the SOX, which closed a healthy 9% above its 50-day moving average
were Altera
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Semiconductor
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Techs looking strong included Comverse Technology
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110 7/8. Mercury Interactive
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up 8 1/16 to 87 5/8 and Juniper
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“I think people are just looking at some stocks that got very, very
cheap, and they’re trying to pick up some bargains. I think the fact the Fed has
started to ease and has indicated that they are concerned about the economy
maybe has given people the feeling or confidence that we’ve seen the worst in
economic numbers,” said Barry Berman, Managing Director of Equity Trading.
Dow winners were J.P. Morgan
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4.7%, GE
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Looking ahead, traders will be waiting for December’s Producer Price Index and retail sales
numbers which are due out Friday. Analysts expect a 0.3% increase in the PPI and
a 0.5% decline in retail sales.
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