Not Seen In Months
The
markets put in another day of gains as price action went positive off
the bell, shifted into a downtrend after the first half hour, then hiked north
into the close. Broker/Dealers, transportation, and Internet stocks led the
action, while utilities and consumer stocks lagged.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
(
$INDU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed up 0.86%Â
to 10,259.74.
The S&P 500
(
$SPX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed up 0.54%
to 1,171.51.
The Nasdaq [$COMPQ |$COMPQ] closed up 0.74%
to 2,059.39.
Further evidence of an economy
on the mend came in today with the Institute for Supply Management reporting an
improvement in the non-manufacturing sector last month, with their index report
coming in at 54.2, up from November’s 51.3 level. Adding to grounds for a
recovery, the Labor Department reported that non farm payrolls fell by 124,000
last month, better than 175,000 analysts polled by Thompson Global Markets had
expected.
Overall
NYSE volume was 1,497,523,000.
NYSE advancing issues were 1,993,
with up volume at 1,009,051,000;
declining issues were 1,163,
with down volume at 483,306,000.
Overall Nasdaq volume was 2,188,183,000.
Nasdaq advancing issues were
2,175,
with up volume at 1,466,055,000;
declining issues were 1,475 with
down volume at 684,100,000.
The VIX
was up 0.81 to 22.02. The TRIN
was up 0.69 to 0.82.
Above-average volume on the
session led the Dow and the S&P 500 above their 200-day MAs, as the Nasdaq
traded into levels not seen since August.
Top
sectors of the day were the
Securities Broker/Dealer Index
(
$XBD.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) up 5.11% at 553.67
and the Dow Jones Internet Commerce
Index
(
$ECMX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) up 3.80% at
58.95.
Losing
sectors of the day were the Dow Jones Utility
Average
(
$UTIL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) down 3.58% at 580.71
and the Nasdaq Tecommunications Index
(
$IXTC.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) down 0.49% to
245.50.
Long distance phone company AT&T
(
T |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 1.56% to 18.35, announced that it will take a $1 billion charge in
the fourth quarter to cover the costs of cutting over 10,000 jobs.
Oil field service and
engineering giant Haliburton
(
HAL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 5.59% to 10.30, said it was
considering filing for bankruptcy, with mounting worries over asbestos law
suits.
Media giant AOL Time-Warner
(
AOL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 1.11% to 31.93, was downgraded by Lehman Brothers, citing an
inability to find a new way to increase earnings.
Online travel firm Travelocity
(
TVLY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 11.12% to 24.39, warned that it would not meet fourth quarter
revenue expectations, citing the Sept. 11 attacks for a decrease in sales.
Coffee retailer Starbucks
(
SBUX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 8.28% to 22.11, was upgraded by Merrill Lynch to Buy from
Neutral, claiming revenue growth has recovered with an increase in buying
momentum.
Internet stocks including Yahoo!
(
YHOO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 1.20% to 18.90, and eBay
(
EBAY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 0.53% to
68.36, got a boost today as Merrill Lynch analysts said fundamentals for the
fourth quarter of 2001 may mark the bottom as online retailers continue to
obtain a bigger share of the retail market.
Energy trader Enron
(
ENE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
up 25% to 0.80, said it will let Dynegy exercise its option to buy Northern
Natural Gas pipeline.
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