What The SOX Weigh
The U.S. stock market held a
tight range for most of the session until an afternoon rally moved the Dow and
the S&P 500 to slight gains for the day, and the Nasdaq to a slight loss.
Internet, gold and silver, and airline stocks held the day’s top spots, as the
semiconductors weighed down the losers.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
(
$INDU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed up 0.36%Â to
10,611.24.
The S&P 500
(
$SPX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed up 0.33%
to 1,168.26.
The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed down 0.008 to 1,929.79.
Headlines were relatively quiet
this Monday with only one piece of economic data released. Wholesale
inventories fell 0.2% in January, making it the eighth straight monthly
drop, with sales growing 1.2%. Economists polled by Thompson Global Markets were
looking for a 0.4% drop in inventories, and a 0.2% climb for sales. For a list
of economic events this week, please refer to The
Market Next Week.
Market breadth was positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 1.05, and up-volume
over down-volume by a 1.64 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining issues
came in at 1.23, and up-volume beat down-volume by a 3.27 ratio. The
VIX
was up 0.76 to 22.37. The TRIN
was down 0.06 to 0.64.
Average volume for the day saw
the Dow and the S&P 500 manage to edge up in its current consolidation zones
and the Nasdaq able to make its second close in a row above its 50- and 200-day
MAs. The Broker/Dealer Index
(
$XBD.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 0.01%, closed in a
“doji” formation within its recent consolidation zone.
Top
sectors of the day were the GSTI
Internet Index
(
$GIN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up
3.75% at 107.42, and the Airline
Index
(
$XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 2.89% at
114.33.
Losing
sectors of the day were the Semiconductor
Index
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 2.41% to 622.51,
and the Computer Hardware Index
(
$HWI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 1.52% to 146.34.
Investment banker JP Morgan
(
JPM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 4.52% to 36.31, rose after
comments from Barron’s over the weekend claimed that investors have
overreacted to the company’s exposure to Enron instead of focusing on its
successful businesses and $30 billion in tangible assets.
Hewlett-Packard
(
HWP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 1.89% to 20.98, was given a slight blow
today as The California Public Employee’s Retirement Systems said it will vote
against its proposed merger with Compaq Computer
(
CPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 4.15% to
11.31.
Chip maker Intersil
(
ISIL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 14.11% to 31.48, fell after it
announced its intentions to acquire Elantec Semiconductor
(
ELNT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up
14.99% to 47.37, in a $1.4 billion stock-and-cash deal.
Data storage stocks were given a blow today as Bank of America Securities
downgraded EMC
(
EMC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 2.92% to 11.64, and Emulex
(
EMLX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
down 7.93% to 32.05, with decreased earnings expectations.
Israeli drug maker Teva Pharmaceuticals
(
TEVA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 4.44% to
53.85, fell after UBS Warburg downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy, with
worries over the company’s prospects for growth.
Electric utilities company FPL Group
(
FPL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 1.77% to 57.02, was
upgraded by Merrill Lynch to Buy from Neutral with the expectation that the
company will settle its rate case in Florida.