Inflation Tame; Stocks Slip
Stocks are leaning to the negative Thursday following a tame Consumer Price
Index report that showed as-expected increases of 0.2% for both the CPI and the
core rate, which excludes food and energy.
The Dow futures are down 33 points, and the Nasdaq futures are down 69.50
points.
The S&Ps look to open down 7.50 points while the yield on the 10-year
Treasury is holding at 5.69%.
Morning Movers
Applied Materials
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PowerRating) posted third quarter earnings of 77 cents per
share, which beat First Call/Thomson Financial estimates by a penny. Applied
Materials closed Wednesday up 1 1/4 to 42 3/4 and is trading up to 43 1/4 in
pre-market activity.
Looking at a positive open is Pasadena, Calif.-based Gemstar
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PowerRating),
which was pummeled Wednesday following an analyst downgrade. GMST closed down 10
to 46 3/16 but is currently trading back up to 51 in pre-market activity.
Also showing an upward bias in the chip arena is Xilinx
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PowerRating) which
rose 1 3/4 to 69 7/8 on Wednesday. Xilinx is currently trading up to 70 1/8 in
pre-market activity.
Wednesday Follow-up
Sycamore Networks
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PowerRating) was one of Wednesday’s better performers, adding 4 to 68
7/16 following a better-than-expected earnings report. Sycamore is currently
trading down slightly to 67 1/4 in pre-market activity.