Key Psychological Level Broken – Here’s How It Happened
Stocks
were solidly higher Wednesday. First-quarter productivity
was upwardly revised and the service sector again showed expansion. The Dow
surpassed the 9,000 level, closing at 9038.98. Most sectors
were green, with airlines leading the pack after an upbeat May traffic
report. Goldman Sachs analyst Glenn Engel noted that “May traffic numbers showed
moderate progress in narrowing industry losses.” Walt Disney’s
(
DIS |
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Chart |
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PowerRating) 4% rise
help boost the Dow. CSFB had some very positive comments about the media giant,
describing it as potentially “the best-performing media and entertainment group
over the next 12 months.”
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average
(
$INDU.X |
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News |
PowerRating) gained +116.03 at 9,038.98. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
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PowerRating)
rose +14.68 at 986.24. The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rallied +31.09 at
1634.65.
The day’s leading sectors were
Airlines
(
$XAL.X |
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PowerRating), +7.72%, Computer Hardware
(
$HWI.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+4.47%, Software
(
$GSO.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.50%, Internet
(
$DOT.X |
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Chart |
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PowerRating),
+3.48%, and Networking
(
$NWX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.08%.
Weak today was Health
Providers
(
$RXH.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.35%.
In economic news,
First-quarter Productivity was upwardly revised to 1.9% from 1.6%, but
slightly below expectations of 2.0%. The ISM Services for May rose to
54.5 from April’s 50.7. This topped expectations of a 52 reading.
The 10-year U.S. Note
was 100 at 119 195.
The dollar was +0.23 at
93.79.
Gold was -1.4 at 361.20.
Crude Oil -0.05 at
30.00.
Volume is at
1,598,116,000
on the NYSE, and at 2,488,532,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is very
positive, with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of
3.32, and up volume over down volume by a 6.17 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues
over declining issues at 2.21, and up volume over down volume is at a 2.94
ratio.
Top Dow stocks were:
Walt Disney
(
DIS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.97 at
20.93, Hewlett Packard
(
HWP |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.97 at 21.04, Boeing
(
BA |
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News |
PowerRating)
+1.44 at 33.55, International Paper
(
IP |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.01 at 37.96, and
Alcoa
(
AA |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.91 at 25.98.
Stocks in the news:
Amdocs
(
DOX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was
higher on heavy volume after Prudential Securities upgraded the stock to
“buy” from “hold”. Prudential based the upgrade on the belief that Sprint PCS
will choose Amdocs to support migration of Sprint’s customer database.
Altera
(
ALTR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was higher today after the company raised second-quarter revenue
estimates. The company now sees revenue growth between 3 – 4% versus previous
estimates of 1 and 4%.
Display and scoreboard maker
Daktronics
(
DAKT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) traded higher by over 10% on more than triple its
average volume. The company reported fourth-quarter results of 17 cents a share
compare to 8 cents a share for the same period a year ago. Results for the
quarter also topped estimates by 4 cents.
International Gaming
Technology
(
IGT |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was higher on heavy volume. The company announced
a four for one stock split to shareholders of record by June 18.
Palm
(
PALM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was
higher by 19% on very heavy volume. The company agreed to acquire rival
Handspring in a $169 million stock deal. Palm’s board of directors also approved
the spinoff of its PalmSource subsidiary.
DaimlerChrylser
(
DCX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
was lower on heavy volume. The company warned that heavy discounting in the
U.S. auto market could lead to a second-quarter loss and well as negatively
affect full-year results.