Nasdaq Clings, Drugmakers Whacked
A fading Nasdaq Composite Wednesday
barely managed to hold onto gains after networking giant Cisco Systems reported
blow-out results overnight. A warning from Wal-Mart weighed on blue chips and
retailers.
Drugs makers fell in sympathy with Eli
Lilly, which suffered a major setback in patent litigation over its blockbuster
drug Prozac.
The Federal Reserve Beige Book was
inconclusive. The anecdotal report on the U.S. economy contained more evidence
of a slowing economy but showed that labor market remained tight, a condition
that Fed policymakers consider potentially inflationary.
Philadelphia Stock Exchange
semiconductor index
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PowerRating) rose 1.4%. Programmable chipmaker Altera
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gained 1 1/4 to 104 13/16, DRAM maker Micron Technology
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Applied Materials
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PowerRating), the No. 1 chip-gear manufacturer, picked up 1
9/16 to 72 1/8 ahead of its fiscal third-quarter results report. Allied later
beat the Street with earnings of 70 cents a share vs. estimates of 68 cents,
according to First Call/Thomson Financial.
The Philadelphia Oil Service index
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added 3.8%. Sector leaders included Transocean Sedco Forex
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RIG |
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PowerRating) up 2 15/16
to 53 13/16, Halliburton
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PowerRating) 2 27/32 to 52 5/8 and Schlumberger
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2 19/32 to 82.
Philadelphia Forest Paper Products
index
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PowerRating) rose 1.4%.
On the downside, the S&P Retail
Index
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PowerRating) slid 3.4% after Wal-Mart
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advised analysts to lower estimates by 2 cents for the third quarter. Wal-Mart
shed 4 3/8 to 53 1/4.
The Amex Pharmaceutical Index
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PowerRating)
slumped 5.6%. Eli Lilly
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PowerRating) plunged 32 1/32 to 76 1/2. The company said a
federal court reversed a decision from a lower court giving Lilly’s best-selling
antidepressant drug Prozac patent protection through 2003. Sepracor
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PowerRating),
which was working on a version of the drug with Lilly, tumbled 23 3/8 to 106
1/8. Shares in rival Barr Labs
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PowerRating), which wants to market a generic
version of the drug, soared 27 to 72 3/4. American Home Products
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PowerRating) lost
2 3/16 to 56 3/16, Alza
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PowerRating) 2 27/32 to 60 1/8, Merck
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PowerRating) 1 25/32 to
70 9/16.