Late-Session Slippage
Stocks wilted into the close Tuesday following news that the Federal Reserve
would leave rates unchanged and maintain its cautious stance toward inflationary
pressures. Interest-sensitive stocks and select technologies led all three major averages higher ahead of the Fed announcement, but most of those gains slipped
away by the close. The Dow, though, did managed to post a respectable 0.5% gain,
while the Nasdaq ended up 0.1% and the S&P 500 slipped by 0.1%.
Volume again was light, with 1.4 billion shares trading on the Nasdaq and 819
million shares changing hands on the NYSE. While most traders and analysts
expected the Fed news, the quiet summer trading and general malaise among money
managers made for a soggy session.
“I’m kind of neutral on the market right here. I think we’re pretty much
at a lose-lose situation as far as the Fed. I think Greenspan will stand pat,
but I think that his stance will remain cautious going forward. I just feel that
with the rally the market’s had here in the last two weeks, I am just wondering
what is going to be the next catalyst,” said Greg Parise, General Partner,
Dorado Capital Management.
“I think I would I’d rather just keep my powder dry until we get through
Labor Day weekend when most of the money managers are back and we see a more
definitive sign in the market. As far as making a move on the day the Fed makes
a decision, I would shy away from that,” he added.
According to preliminary numbers, the Dow gained 59.34 to 11,139.15, the
Nasdaq rose 5.12 to 3958.27, and the S&P 500 eased 1.35 to 1498.13.
Top sectors of the day were biotechnology
(
$BTK.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 2.5%, banking
(
$BKX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 12.0%, retailers
(
$RLX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 1.7%, and
semiconductors
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 1.2%.
On the downside were airlines
(
$XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
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PowerRating), down 0.8%, telecom
(
$XTC.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
down 1.8%, and forest and paper products
(
$FPP.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 2.0%.
Helping motivate the Dow were Honeywell
(
HON |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 4.3%, Boeing
(
BA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
up 3.2%, J.P. Morgan
(
JPM |
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News |
PowerRating), up 2.4%, and General Motors
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
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PowerRating), up 2.0%.
Pacing the banking index were PNC Financial
(
PNC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 3.5%, Mellon
Financial
(
MEL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 3.3%, State Street Corp
(
STT |
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News |
PowerRating), up 3.2%, and Chase
Manhattan
(
CMB |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 3.0%.
Tech winners included Juniper Networks
(
JNPR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 12 5/8 to 186 7/16,
Ciena
(
CIEN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 9 5/16 to 191 3/8, Sycamore Networks
(
SCMR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 7 1/2
to 161 1/2, and Terayon
(
TERN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 4 15/16 to 52 5/16.
The next big economic news due out will be the July durable goods orders,
which are released Thursday at 8:30 AM ET. Street consensus looks for a 7.7%
decrease in new orders.
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