What Traders Are Waiting For
The
markets traded lower off the bell, stayed down until a midday rally
brought them positive for a short time, then sold off into the close for losses.
Biotechnology and gold stocks were the day’s big gainers, with networking and
Internet issues hit with the hardest selling.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
(
$INDU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed down 0.21%Â to
9,863.74.
The S&P 500
(
$SPX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed down 0.39%Â
to 1,107.58.
The Nasdaq [$COMPQ |$COMPQ] closed down 0.67%
to 1,834.22.
Today’s session was off to a
bad start on news from Nortel Networks
(
NT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) of weak earnings
expectations and their CFO resigning, but ultimately it was a thinly traded
session with little standout action. The focus is now on Applied Material’s
(
AMAT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) earnings announcement after the bell, and tomorrow’s retail
report, when volume and volatility are expected to return.
Overall
NYSE volume was 1,090,619,000.
NYSE advancing issues were 1,518,
with up volume at 442,588,000;
declining issues were 1,565,
with down volume at 639,331,000.
Overall Nasdaq volume was 1,598,646,000.
Nasdaq advancing issues were 1,710,
with up volume at 626,648,000;
declining issues were 1,808
with
down volume at 951,685,000.
The VIX
was down 0.11 to 23.43. The TRIN
was up 0.90 to 1.40.
Light volume saw the Dow touch
and retract from its 50-day MA, the S&P 500 touch and retract from
yesterday’s high, and the Nasdaq barely able to take out yesterday’s high. It
appears at this point that the last two day’s gains were an aberrant from a
downtrend. The Semiconductor Index
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) made a move above its
200-day MA though closed below it, and the Broker/Dealer Index
(
$XBD.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
erased yesterday’s gains, trading between its 50 and 200-day MA’s.
Top
sectors of the day were the Biotechnology
Index
(
$BTK.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) up 4.23% at 520.91
and the Gold and Silver Index
(
$XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) up 2.58% at 66.25.
Losing
sectors of the day were the Networking
Index
(
$NWX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) down 3.29%
at 275.05,
and the GSTI Multimedia Networking Index
(
$GIP.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) down 3.19% to
107.39.
Communications company Nortel
Networks
(
NT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 0.39 to 6.45, reported that net income for the first
quarter is expected to be 10% less than the fourth quarter, though expects to
return to profitability by the end of 2002. It was also reported that the
company’s chief financial officer has resigned. Elsewhere in the sector, LucentÂ
(
LU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was down 0.26 to 5.99, JDS Uniphase
(
JDSU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) dropped 0.36 to
6.56, and Ciena
(
CIEN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) fell 0.40 to 10.07.
Data storage pro EMC Corp.
(
EMC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), fell 1.04 to 14.00, on a Boston Globe report that a former
executive had stated in court that EMC had falsely claimed profits and violated
business contracts. Elsewhere in the sector, Brocade
(
BRCD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was down
0.635 to 33.55, and QLogic
(
QLGC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was up 0.57 to 48.78.
Brokerage house Merrill
Lynch
(
MER |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 0.32 to 48.33, was upgraded by Samuel Bernstein to
Market Perform from Underperform, citing restructuring initiatives and capital
market recovery as positive momentum for the company.
Auto and truck part specialist Dana
(
DCN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 0.83 to 16.08, rose on comments from Lehman Brothers, who said the
company was likely to release positive earnings news Wednesday after the bell.
Insurance company MeTLife
|MET|MET], rose 0.79 to 30.36, reporting a quarterly loss due to charges from
underwriting lawsuits and restructuring. Despite this, they still beat analysts’
expectations.Â
Doughnut retailer Krispy
Kreme Doughnuts
(
KKD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 0.89 to 36.09, said it expects to meet
earnings expectations for 2002 and 2003, though will change its method of
construction financing, dropping a method criticized by Forbes magazine.