Here’s What’s Weighing On The Dow
After
yesterday’s strong rally, stocks have cooled as the major indexes
trade in slightly negative territory midday. With no key news releases, war talk
is at the forefront of trader talk. Without more clarity, conviction will be
unlikely for the markets. Tomorrow we’ll get a new read on new home sales data.
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is -0.87% at 7,840.66. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
is -0.85% at 831.44. The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is -1.01% at 1,315.51.
Biggest gainers of the day are
oil service
(
$OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.72%, forest and paper
(
$FPP.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+1.30%, and gold and silver
(
$XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.16%.
Leading to the downside are
networking
(
$NWX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.14%, semiconductors
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-1.72%, telecom
(
IXTC.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.53%, and utilitiesÂ
(
$UTIL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.41%.
There are no economic releases for the day.
The 10-year US Note
is +065 at 116 030.
The dollar is -0.19 at
99.72.
Gold is +2.20 at 354.50.
Crude oil +0.95 at
37.01.
Volume is at 647,143,000
on the NYSE, and at 612,790,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is negative,
with NYSE declining issues over advancing issues by a ratio of 1.56, and down
volume over up volume by a 1.71 ratio. Nasdaq declining issues over advancing
issues are at 1.76, and down volume is over up volume by a 3.96 ratio.
Biggest Dow laggards are:
Hewlett Packard
(
HPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -13.26% at 15.77,
Intel
(
INTC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.30% at 16.35, McDonalds
(
MCD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.51% at
12.82, United Technologies
(
UTX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.03% at 58.34, General Motors
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.84% at 33.03, and Citibank
(
C |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.82% at 32.29.
Stocks In The News:
Software and programming company Autodesk Inc.
(
ADSK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+4.14% at 13.84, beat its expectations for fourth-quarter earnings, though
profits fell 70% from a year ago, while revenue slipped 23%.
Paper and paper products company International Paper
(
IP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.97% at 35.26, was upgraded by Prudential to “hold” from “sell” with
a new price target of $31.
Chip maker Semtech
(
SMTC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +9.21% at 13.40,
beat its earnings estimates with earnings of $0.11 per share, and has set its
guidance for the first-quarter at $0.11 per share, which is $0.01 ahead of
estimates.
Computer hardware maker and Dow component
Hewlett Packard Corp.
(
HPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -13.26%
at 15.77, has been downgraded by Goldman Sachs to “in-line” from
“outperform,” after the company beat its first-quarter earnings expectations by
$0.01, though fell short of revenue targets.
Also in the Dow, software
giant Microsoft
(
MSFT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.64% at 24.03, has been upgraded by
Deutsche Bank to “buy” from “hold.”
Jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co.
(
TIF |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +5.38% at
23.49, is up over 12% in the pre-market after beating its fourth-quarter
earnings expectations by $0.60 per share. The company has issued 2003 guidance
in line with expectations.Â
Home builder Hovnanian
(
HOV |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.91% at 33.23,
has been upgraded by Salomon Smith Barney to “outperform” from “in-line.”
Retailer TJX Companies
(
TJX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.31% at 16.14,
has missed its fourth-quarter earnings expectations by $0.01 with profits of
$0.29 per share.
danielb@tradingmarkets.com