Market’s Flat Now, But Wait For This
The major indexes are slightly
positive mid-day after price action has tested higher and lower on the session
with better than expected economic numbers failing to establish a trend.
Kevin Haggerty is looking for a range day, as President Bush’s speech
tonight keeps players cautious ahead of the potential market-turning event.
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is +0.42% at 8,023.29 The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is +0.35% at 850.46. The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is +0.09%
at 1,326.42.
The biggest gainers on the day
are utilitiesÂ
(
$UTIL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.29%, networking
(
$NWX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.54%, and natural gas
(
$XNG.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+1.46%.
The biggest loser on the day is
gold and silver
(
$XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.34%, telecoms
(
$XTC.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-0.87%, and semiconductors
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.71%.
In economic news, durable orders came in
at 0.2% vs. expectations of 0.1%, consumer confidence came in at 79.0 vs.
expectations of 78.5, and new home sales came in at 1082K vs.
expectations of 1040K.
The 10-year U.S. Note
is -110 at 113 305.
The Dollar is +0.20 at
99.74.
Gold is -0.40 at 369.00.
Crude Oil is +0.29 at
32.58.
Volume is at 704,114,000
on the NYSE, and at 723,673,000 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 1.27 ratio. Nasdaq declining issues
over advancing issues are at 1.14, and up volume over down volume is at a 1.52
ratio.
The biggest Dow gainers are:
American Express
(
AXP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +4.04% at 34.77,
Merck Co.
(
MRK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.73% at 53.69, Honeywell
(
HON |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.53% at
23.19, Proctor & Gamble
(
PG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.10% at 84.79, Exxon Mobile
(
XOM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.48% at 32.29, and Wal-Mart
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.27% at 47.70.
Stocks In The News:
Drug maker Wyeth
(
WYE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +7.06% at
36.40, beat its fourth-quarter earnings expectations by $0.01 with profits of
$0.65 per share. The company is upbeat for 2003. Also, Merck
(
MRK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+3.73% at 53.69, reported fourth-quarter earnings in-line with expectations and
has guided higher for 2003.
Defense company Northrop Grumman
(
NOC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.12% at 91.15, beat its fourth-quarter earnings estimates by $0.01
with profits of $1.83 per share.
Home product maker Proctor & Gamble
(
PG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.10% at 84.79, beat is second-quarter earnings expectations by $0.01
with profits of $1.13 per share.
Communications services company SBC
Communications
(
SBC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.66% at 24.19, met its fourth-quarter earnings
expectations with profits of $0.62 per share.
Prudential has lowered its 2003
earnings estimates on select brokerages due to events leading to potential
military action in Iraq that have weakened business. Firms with lower estimates
are Goldman Sachs
(
GS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.47% at 68.08, Morgan Stanley
(
MWD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.32% at 37.78, and Merrill Lynch
(
MER |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.11% at 35.54.
Networking company Ciena
(
CIEN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +4.10% at 6.09, is rumored to have won a contract with AT&T
(
T |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.51% at 18.70, worth $50 million.
Biotechs have been mixed as
Biogen
(
BGEN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.61% at 35.90, lowered its earnings guidance for
full-year 2003 with new estimates of $1.63 – 1.78 vs. previous estimates of
$1.69. The company also reported results in line with fourth-quarter
expectations, and Biosite
(
BSTE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -5.73% at 34.71, raised its 2003
earnings guidance for full-year 2003 with new estimates of $1.38 – 1.46 vs.
previous estimates of $1.30. The company also reported results in-line with
fourth-quarter expectations.
Tobacco company RJ Reynolds
(
RJR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.77% at 41.40, issued a profit warning for the first quarter with
new expectations of $0.70 – 0.95 per share vs. a previous consensus of $1.27 per
share. The company also beat its fourth-quarter earnings expectations by $0.02
with profits of $0.41 per share.
In the retail sector,
Talbots
(
TLB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +4.30% at 25.93, has been upgraded by UBS Warburg to
“buy” from “neutral.”
Homebuilder Pulte Homes
(
PHM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.48% at 50.00, beat its fourth-quarter earnings by $0.11 with
profits of $2.78 per share.
danielb@tradingmarkets.com