Santa Claus Rally?
The
markets headed higher off the bell, then leveled off around 11 a.m.
ET to trade in a narrow range into the close. The rally was broad-based, with
technology once again leading the way.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed up 0.82%Â
to 9,891.97.
The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed up 0.94%
to 1,133.62.
The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed up 1.76%
to 1,987.45.
With no economic news released today, headlines
were dominated by merger news. On the economic front this week, key reports to
look out for are: housing starts data on Tuesday, initial jobless claims on
Wednesday, GDP on Friday, and the University of Michigan’s Sentiment Review on
Friday as well. Though pre-holiday trading is usually lighter than normal, this
is a triple witching week, which may contribute to some unusual volatility.
Overall
NYSE volume was 1,226,355,000.
NYSE advancing issues were 1,785,
with up volume at 726,506,000;
declining issues were 1,372,
with down volume at 487,379,000.
Overall Nasdaq volume was 1,796,335,000.
Nasdaq advancing issues were 2,076,
with up volume at 1,243,080,000;
declining issues were 1,597 with
down volume at 535,474,000.
The VIX
was dn 0.54 to 25.43. The TRIN
was 0.23 to 0.87.
With average volume on the day,Â
the three major indexes appear to have come out of pullback mode. The Dow and
the S&P 500 have yet to surpass their 200-day MAs, while the Nasdaq has now
made its tenth close above the 200-day MA. The majority of the technology
sectors bounced off their lower trend lines today, and the Semiconductor
Index
(
SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 2.70% at 563.87, was able to close above its 200-day
MA for the first time in three sessions.  Â
Leading sectors of the day were the
Biotechnology Index
(
$BTK.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 4.02% at 587.33, and the Dow
Jones Internet Commerce Index
(
$ECM.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 3.66% at 51.73.
The biggest losing sectors today were the Airline
Index
(
$XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 1.92% at 85.61, and the Oil Service Sector
Index
(
$OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 1.91% at 79.59.
French media giant Vivendi
(
V |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 6.50%
to 52.13, announced that it has acquired the entertainment assets of USA
Networks
(
USAI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 5.04% to 25.02, in a cash and stock deal worth
$10.3 billion.
Biotechnology firm Amgen
(
AMGN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up
3.45% to 57.9655, said it is in agreement to buy Immunex
(
IMNX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
up 13.58% to 29.10, for about $16 million in cash and stock. This deal is
believed to encourage further consolidation in the biotechnology field.
P&O PrincessÂ
has rejected a hostile bid of $4.61 billion from the world’s biggest cruise
operator, Carnival Corp
(
CCL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 1.68%
at 26.84, Â and has
reaffirmed its merger plans with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.
Microchip
maker Conexant Systems Inc.
(
CNXT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 4.48%
to 16.57,
announced that it expects to raise revenue by 10% in the first quarter with a
better than expected demand for its wireless communications services.
The No. 2
U.S. dairy Dean Foods Co.
(
DF |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 1.66%
to 47.28,
reported its fiscal second-quarter net income fell 9% from costs associated with
its acquisition of Suiza Foods
(
SZA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 2.11%
to 36.95.
Generic drug maker Mylan
Laboratories Inc.
(
MYL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 2.47%
to 36.95,
raised its third-quarter forecasts and announced that it expects to earn between 54
and 56 cents a share. Previous estimates were for 38 to 40 cents a share.Â