Three-Peat For Naz
Positive comments from Salomon Smith Barney analyst Jonathon Joseph fired up
the semiconductor group Wednesday, which in turn rallied the Nasdaq to a 2.7%
close. The Nasdaq gain marked its third-straight winning session and left the
index about 17% above its April 4 intraday low.
Weakness in retailers, cyclicals, oils and drugs kept the blue chip averages
in check, as the Dow slipped 0.8% and the S&P 500 eased 0.2%. The Dow did
manage, however, to hold above the psychological 10,000 level.
Bulls were pleased to see Nasdaq volume increase 8% above Tuesday’s level as
2.36 billion shares traded. NYSE volume decreased a tad but still totaled a
healthy 1.27 billion shares.
“We could be wrong, but we don’t believe the DJIA is going to be able to
rally big above 10,200 because there’s a lot of resistance in that area. The Dow
will be running into a downward slopping 50- and 200-day moving averages. It is
from this area that its most recent decline began to pick up speed,” said
John Roque, Vice President, Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder.
“Though we are less inclined to believe the Dow can rally big from
current levels, we do believe Nasdaq can do better absolutely and relatively.
Like you, we are aware of the signals that have been around for weeks,” he
added.
According to preliminary numbers, the Nasdaq added 46.92 to 1898.95, the Dow
fell 89.27 to 10,013.47, and the S&P 500 slipped 2.49 to 1165.89.
Top sectors included semiconductors
(
$SOX.X |
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$XBD.X |
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$XCI.X |
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Sectors under pressure were oil services
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pharmaceuticals
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down 2.3%.
Semis that soared included Texas Instruments
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up 12%, Intel
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Micro
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AMD |
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Tech giants had a good showing as well, with Sun Micro
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Cisco
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Broker/dealers posting wins were Schwab
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up 5%, and Goldman Sachs
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Looking ahead, the March Producer Price Index will be released at 8:30 AM ET
on Thursday, and analysts expect a 0.1% increase in both the PPI and its core
rate. Also due out are retails sales numbers for March, and analysts expect
retail sales to remain flat.
Gary
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