Nasdaq Quietly Rises
Semiconductors and networking stocks fired-up the Nasdaq Thursday, as it
notched a 2% gain that left it just 5 points below its 200-day moving average.
Strength in the financials continued, particularly among the broker/dealers and
that helped the S&P 500 climb 1%. The Dow managed to rise a respectable 0.4%
and hold above the 11,000 level.
A day ahead of options expiration, though, volume again remained light, with
1.35 billion shares trading on the Nasdaq and 860 million shares trading on the
NYSE.
“I must say very frankly that it is kind of a confusing time in the
market simply because so many of the indices are doing so many different things.
The New York Composite Index is at new all-time highs, and the Value Line
Arithmetic Composite is also at all-time highs. On the other hand, just to show
you how convoluted the market really is, the old Value Line Geometric Composite
is significantly below its all-time highs,” said Peter Eliades, Editor
& Publisher, Stock Market Cycles.
“Then, of course, you’ve got the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which
most people watch, and it has just lately come to life a little bit. It is
out-performing most of the other indices, such as the S&P 500 now, and
usually that’s not a good sign for the market when the 30 stocks of the Dow
outperform other larger, more comprehensive groups. Because so many of these
indices doing so many different things, the overall tendency of a market that is
acting like that is that ultimately it will be resolved in a negative
fashion,” he added.
According to preliminary numbers, the Nasdaq gained 79.81 to 3941.01, the Dow
rose 47.25 to 11.055.64, and the S&P 500 added 16.24 to 1496.09.
Top-performing groups included broker/dealers
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semiconductors
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and integrated oils
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Weaker groups included transportation
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down 1.4%, and gold and silver
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Leading the broker/dealers were Lehman Brothers
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up 6%, E*Trade
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Of the big-cap techs, Sun Microsystems
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post an all-time high. Also strong were Oracle
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and Intel
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Posting big gains following better-than-expected earnings news were Ciena
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up 16 to 179 1/4, and Brocade
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With little economic news scheduled for the next few days, all eyes focus on
the Federal Reserve FOMC meeting which takes place on Tuesday. The general
consensus among traders and analysts continues to lean toward no rate hike.
For more market sector and industry group analysis,
be sure to check out Loren Fleckenstein’s nightly Money Flow Outlook report.
Whether you trade stocks or exchange-traded funds, Money Flow Outlook will help
you home in on the areas of strength and weakness in the stock market. Money
Flow Outlook appears on the home page by 10 p.m. ET after each market close.