Stocks Scale Back From Record Highs
Traders took profit on stocks
that hit record levels yesterday on the Nasdaq and S&P 500,
amid concern that the Fed’s quarter-point rate hike may not be sufficient to
cool the economy. Oil prices rose to a nine-year high, exacerbating the view
that the Fed’s move may not be enough to contain inflation. The Dow fell 49.24
to 10,883.09, the Nasdaq fell 26.50 to 3269.02 and the S&P 500 slipped 8.91
to 1410.69. The Nasdaq still managed to set a record though, trading 1.6 billion
shares as money flowed into technology funds at an unprecedented pace. Yields on
thirty-year Treasury bonds rose for a second day to 6.12%–hurting
financials–despite today’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) data showing no surprises
for the month of October. American Express [AXP>AXP] and Citigroup [C>C]
were the biggest losers on the Dow, falling 4 7/8 and 2 1/8, respectively, and
Morgan Stanley DW hurt the S&P 500 with its loss of 5 13/16 to 121 7/16.
Crude oil spiked above $26 a barrelon evidenceof tightersuppliesand risingdemand.Oil[$OIX.X>$OIX.X]and oil services [$OSX.X>$OSX.X] werethe day’sstrongestsectorswithMobile[MOB>MOB]andSchlumberger [SLB>SLB] each rising2andChevron[CHV>CHV] gaining 2 7/8.
Techs were split with the newgorillaontheblock, Qualcomm [QCOM>QCOM], falling 20, and four of the five Nasdaq blue chips falling. Still theCBOEcomputersoftwaresector [$CWX.X>$CWX.X] set its 13th record in 15 tries, getting extraliftfromOracle[ORCL>ORCL] (up 6 1/2 to 71) on word that the world’s largest data base company now has powerful Internet marketing software.
All eyes looked toward China today following a deal that would allow the world’s most populous country to enter the global trading system known as the World Trading Organization (WTO). TradeHardNews.com reported some of the spectacular gains early inthedayofChina-related stocks: Resources Development[CHRB>CHRB]up358.33%,China Prosperity International [CPIH>CPIH] up315.81%,QiaoXingUniversal Telephone [XING>XING] up132%,U.S.-ChinaIndustrialExchange [CHDX>CHDX] up 102% andChinaYuchaiInternational[CYD>CYD] up 60%. < P>AfterTheClosingBell Hewlett-Packard [HWP>HWP] beat its earnings prediction by two cents and was up 2 3/8 inafter-hourstrading.AppliedMaterials [AMAT>AMAT] also beat its earnings estimates but was lower in extended hours trading after hitting a 52-weekhigh.CommerceOne[CMRC>CMRC] said it would split its stock 3-for-1 and the stock was up as many as 20 on Instinet.