Bulls A-Hummin’
Bulls controlled the day with
price action holding an uptrend for the entire session, and all three major
averages closing near their highs. Internet, airline and semiconductors earned
the top spots on the gainers list, with health care, pharmaceuticals, and gold
and silver stocks the only losing sectors.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
(
$INDU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed up 2.09%Â to
10,586.06.
The S&P 500
(
$SPX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed up 1.87%
to 1,152.96.
The Nasdaq [$COMPQ |$COMPQ] closed up 3.12%
to 1,858.93.
Positive comments from analysts
kept the bulls humming today as the financial community prepares for more
economic reports due this week. For a list of economic events this week, please
refer to The
Market Next Week.
Market breadth was positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 2.41, and up-volume
over down-volume by a 4.42 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining issues
came in at 1.83, and up-volume beat down-volume by a 3.27 ratio. The
VIX
was down 0.05. The TRIN
was down 0.20 to 0.54.
Well-above-average volume on
the session moved the Dow to match levels not seen last summer, the S&P 500
was halted at its 200-day MA, and the Nasdaq closed well above its 20-day MA,
but still short of its 50 and 200-day MA. The Semiconductor Index
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
up 5.93%, broke its downward trend line that traces back to January of 2001. The
Broker/Dealer Index
(
$XBD.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 6.92%, pushed above its 200- and
50-day MAs.
Top
sectors of the day were the CBOE
Internet Index
(
$INX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up
10.44% at 124.48,
and the GSTI Multimedia
Networking Index
(
$GIP.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
up 7.33% at 103.80.
Losing
sectors of the day were the Morgan Stanley Healthcare Index
(
$HMO.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 2.86% at 465.28,
and the Morgan Stanley Healthcare Provider Index
(
$RXH.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down
1.44% to 288.22.
Software maker Oracle Corporation (ORCL),
down 14.63% to 13.65, announced after the bell Friday that it will miss fiscal
third quarter earnings by 1 cent due to weak sales in Asia.
Financial services company American Express
(
AXP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 5.55% to
39.38, was upgraded to Must Own by Sanford Bernstein under the belief that a
cyclical recovery on lower expenses will create higher earnings in 2003.
Elsewhere in the industry, JP Morgan
(
JPM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was up 9.24% to 32.40.
Retailer 7-Eleven (SE),
up 7.97% to
10.30, was the subject of positive comments from Barron’s, claiming its
revenue growth potential is overlooked by analysts who have over emphasized the
company’s debt and reliance on gasoline sales.
Automaker General Motors
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 6.60% to 58.60, rose on an
upgrade from JP Morgan to Buy from Market Perform with the understanding that
the company’s ability to hang on to market share where competitors haven’t gives
them an edge. Elsewhere in the industry, Ford
(
F |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was up 3.58 to 16.20, and
Daimler Chrysler
(
DCX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) finished up 4.58% to 43.40.
Home improvement retailers Home Depot
(
HD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 0.66% 49.96, and Lowes
(
LOW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 2.25% to 43.00, were both subjected to a downgrades by UBS
Warburg to Buy from Strong Buy, with high P/E multiples believed to be in excess
of the actual earnings potential.
Airline stocks gained on positive comments from Merrill Lynch who stated that
recent traffic reports from Continental Airlines
(
CAL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 6.12% to
34.70, and American Airline’s parent AMR Corp.
(
AMR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 6.53% to
29.03, were “encouraging.”
Software maker Computer Associates
(
CA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 0.30% to 16.95, fell
after the company’s credit rating was cut by Moody’s Investors Service to
reflect its reduced cash flow.