King For A Day
The
indexes turned up off the opening bell then trended down to the day’s
lows by 10:30 a.m. ET where a rally attempt turned into sideways action with all
three indexes closing down. Oil and oil service stocks were king for the day,
while the gold and silver index along with Internet and biotechnology
represented the biggest losses of the day.
The Dow Jones Industrial t
Average
(
$INDU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed down
0.33%Â
to 9,653.39. The S&P 500
(
$SPX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed down
0.67%
to 1,082.68. The Nasdaq [$COMPQ |$COMPQ] closed down
1.39%
to 1,812.92.
The news event of the day will
be Cisco’s earnings after the bell, though news that the company would beat
expectations was leaked out before the opening bell today. In economic news, a
preliminary number on productivity came in
with a 3.5% increase, greater than any quarter for over a year.
Overall NYSE volume was
1,650,413,000. NYSE advancing issues were
1,134, with up volume at 531,646,000;
declining issues were 1,936, with down volume
at 1,101,981,000. Overall Nasdaq volume was
3,563,120,000. Nasdaq advancing issues were
1,208, with up volume at 605,824,000;
declining issues were 2,365 with down volume
at 1,445,585,000. The
VIX was up 1.38 to 28.15. The
TRIN was down 1.21 to 0.60.
Above-average volume today
doesn’t override yesterday’s heavy sell off, though the downtrend on the S&P 500
and Nasdaq has not broken key support. Meanwhile, the Dow only suffered a mild
loss. The Semiconductor Index
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed in a doji below its
50-day moving average, and the Broker/Dealer Index
(
$XBD.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) moved
down for its second close below the 200-day moving average.
Top sectors of the day were the
Oil Service Index
(
$OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) up 1.48% at 83.31 and the
Oil Index
(
$OIX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) up 1.05% at 294.45.
Losing sectors of the day were
the Dow Jones Internet
Commerce Index
(
$ECM.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) down 5.77% at
44.24, and the Amex Gold Bugs Index
(
$HUI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) down 4.66% to 83.57.
Software and programming
company Computer Associates
(
CA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 13.55% to 27.12, fell after
Moody’s Investor’s Service said it would review the company for a potential
downgrade. Computer Associates said it expects to record a fourth quarter
operating loss of 4 to 5 cents per share.
Foreign bank Allied Irish
Banks
(
AIB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), fell 16.18% to 19.74, after a rogue trader was said to have
put the company in the wrong with $750 million worth of fraud.
Conglomerate Tyco
International
(
TYC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), rose 12.34% to 25.95, after the company held a press
conference reassuring investors of its financial position and ability to raise
capital.
Beverage giant PepsiCo Inc.
(
PEP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 3.44% to 49.06, announced that it had earned 42 cents a share, a
16% rise from this quarter last year, matching analysts expectations. Rival
Coca-cola Co.
(
KO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was up 1.62% to 46.49.Â
Food processor General Mills
Inc.
(
GIS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) fell 10.51% to 43.59 after announcing that it expects to miss
third quarter fiscal earnings, citing “unusually weak volumes.”
Electric utilities company
AES
(
AES |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 14.06% to 9.90, said that profits fell 80% for the
fourth quarter from losses of discontinued operations. The company also said it
has taken a loss from its exposure to Argentina’s crisis.
Casino and gaming company
Harrah’s Entertainment
(
HET |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 2.22% to 35.73, said that revenue was
up 17% from a year ago.