Reversal Of Fortune
A rally in semiconductors helped pull the Nasdaq back from a early-morning
plunge of more than 2% Wednesday in a high-volume session that snapped the Nasdaq’s three-day losing streak.
Internets and big-cap techs joined the party during the
mid-day, and that helped the Nasdaq battle its way back to post a 1.9% gain. The
Dow and S&P 500 gained 0.6% and 0.5%, respectively.
Volume on both the Nasdaq and the NYSE increased by about 6% over Tuesday’s
levels, as 2.05 billion shares traded on the Nasdaq and 1.09 billion shares
changed hands on the NYSE.
In economic news, the economy still shows signs of strength despite the slew
of Fed rate hikes. Factory orders for August increased 2.0%, which topped the
1.6% increase analysts had expected.
"Earnings are the problem right now, but I think that currency upheaval
and currency turmoil could be a problem in the months to come. I think you’ve
got to be very cautious in the month of October," said Ricky Harrington,
Senior Vice President and Technical Analyst, Wachovia Securities.
"September lived up to its image as the worst month of the year, and
October is a close second to that, although October tends to be a turnaround
month. I think until we see the bulk of third quarter earnings you’ve got to be
very cautious about this market," he added.
According to preliminary numbers, the Nasdaq added 67.28 to 3523.11, the Dow
gained 64.74 to 10,784.48, and the S&P 500 rose 7.85 to 1434.31.
Top sectors included semiconductors
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up 4.5%, and telecom
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Weakest sectors were integrated oils
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down 2.2%, and oil services
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Leading the SOX back from the brink were Novellus
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up 9%.
Solid gains in the Goldman Sachs Internet Index were had by RealNetworks
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up 14%, Inktomi
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Yahoo
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In the B2Bs, Ariba
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13%, and PurchasePro
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Looking ahead, all eyes will be on the September employment report which is
due out at 8:30 AM ET on Friday.