Here’s Where We Could Bounce
The markets are in slight
positive territory at mid-day after a higher opening turned into a selloff.
Technology issues are attempting to lead the overall markets higher, though
negative earnings news from Dow heavyweight AT&T has been a drag on sentiment.
The major indexes are trading just above the bottom of their three-month ranges,
where many traders are anticipating bounces to occur.
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is -0.43% at 8,283.22. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is +0.04% at 878.73. The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is +0.84%
at 1,370.94.
The day’s biggest winners are
gold and silver
(
$XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +4.37%, computer hardware
(
$GHA.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.33%, and software
(
$GSO.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.30%.
The biggest losers are
consumer
(
$CMR.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.42%, biotechnology
(
$BTK.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-0.58%, and oil
(
$OIX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.53%.
In economic news, initial claims were for
381K vs. expectations of 363K, and leading indicators gave a reading of
0.1% vs. expectations of 0.0%.
The 10-year U.S. Note
is -030 at 114 145.
The Dollar is -0.51 at
100.02.
Gold is +4.10 at 363.90.
Crude Oil is -0.80 at
32.05.
Volume is at 850,491,000
on the NYSE, and at 806,633,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is mostly
positive, with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of
1.14, and up volume over down volume by a 1.11 ratio. Nasdaq declining issues
over advancing issues are at 1.07, and up volume over down volume is at a 2.30
ratio.
The biggest gainers are:
Alcoa
(
AA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.40% at
21.30, Hewlett Packard
(
HPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.37% at 17.40, Microsoft
(
MSFT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.66% at 51.85, General Motors
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.01% at 38.16,
Honeywell
(
HON |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.96% at 24.14, and International Paper
(
IP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.82%.
Stocks in the news:
Communications company and Dow component
AT&T
(
T |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -20.58% at 20.11, announced a profit for the fourth quarter
after selling its broadband unit, though revenue declined 8.6%. Also in the
business, Bell South
(
BLS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -6.84% at 23.55, missed its
fourth-quarter earnings expectations by $0.01 with profits of $0.50 per share.
Construction and agricultural machinery
company and Dow component Caterpillar
(
CAT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.62% at 43.73, beat
its earnings expectations by $0.20 with profits of 0.88 per share.
Regional bank MBNA Corp.
(
KRB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -8.69% at 16.71, reported earnings of $0.41 per share as it missed
expectations by $0.46 per share.
Chemical manufacturing company Cabot
Microelectronics
(
CCMP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.79% at 45.66, missed its first-quarter
earnings expectations by $0.03 with profits of $0.38 per share.
Data storage company SanDisk
(
SNDK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -5.74% at 17.44, beat its fourth-quarter earnings expectations by
$0.07 with profits of $0.26 per share.
Electric utilities company Dominion
(
D |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) missed its fourth-quarter earnings expectations by $0.03 with profits of
$1.13 per share, as it posted a profit compared to a loss made a year ago.
In the chip sector, Texas
Instruments
(
TXN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +12.84% at 16.08, beat its fourth-quarter earnings
expectations by $0.03 with profits of $0.06 per share. The company has also been
upgraded by several firms.
Mobile phone giant Nokia
(
NOK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -5.56% at 14.11, beat its first-quarter earnings expectations by
$0.04 with profits of $0.28 per share.
Communications equipment maker
Qualcomm
(
QCOM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.54% at 37.99, beat its first-quarter earnings
expectations by $0.04 with profits of $0.42.
Software maker PeopleSoft
(
PSFT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +9.33% at 19.10, beat its fourth-quarter earnings expectations by
$0.04 with profits of $0.18. The stock has also been upgraded by UBS Warburg to
“neutral.”
Also in the software business,
Computer Associates
(
CA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +7.69% at 14.43, announced that it had beat its
third-quarter expectations, though Federal investigators were continuing their
investigation into the company.
Drug maker Eli Lilly
(
LLY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.16% at 62.90, has lowered its earnings guidance for the first
quarter to $0.57 – 0.59 vs. a consensus of $0.60. The company has also lowered
its guidance for the full-year 2003.
Air carrier Jetblue Airways
(
JBLU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +5.42% at 28.99, has been upgraded by Morgan Stanley to
“overweight” from “equal-weight.”
From TM’s
Momentum List, communications equipment maker SafeNet
(
SFNT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+4.99% at 28.63.
danielb@tradingmarkets.com