Where Prices Roared Back Wednesday
Down
was the trend of the major indexes for most of the volatile session,
until a late-day rally brought prices roaring back to the highs of the day. The
biggest gains were in pharmaceuticals, healthcare, chemicals, and computer
technology, while Internet and oil service saw the biggest losses.
Below average volume had the
Dow and S&P 500 closing above their 20-day moving averages, while the Nasdaq was
just below this mark. Not since May have the indexes as a group been able to
close above this level for more than three days. The trend is still obviously
down, though strength in this area will be one of the first steps for an
indication of a change in direction.
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average
(
$INDU.X |
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PowerRating) closed up 2.20% at 8456.15. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
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PowerRating)
closed up 2.00% at 876.77 at. The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
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PowerRating) closed up 1.69%
at 1280.91.
U.S. Treasury Bonds were
up ’22 at 107 ’17.
In economic news, export prices came in at 0.2%,
import prices were at 0.0%, wholesale inventories were recorded at
0.3% , and consumer credit was at $8.5 billion, vs. a forecast of $8
billion.
Market breadth was positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 1.77, and up
volume over down volume by a 1.96 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining
issues came in at 1.12, and up volume beat down volume by a 2.07 ratio. Â The
VIX was down 2.66 at 43.07. The
TRIN was up 0.26 at 0.89.
Semiconductor Index
(
$SOX.X |
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PowerRating), up 2.02% at
307.65, closed in the middle of its daily range. The Broker/Dealer Index
(
$XBD.X |
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PowerRating), up 1.23% at 358.42, closed near the middle of its daily range.
.
The top sectors of the day were the
Pharmaceutical Index
(
$DRG.X |
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PowerRating), up3.72% at 293.02, and the S&P
Healthcare Index
(
$HCX.X |
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PowerRating), up 3.58% at 305.66.Â
Losing
sectors of the day were the Dow Jones Internet Commerce Index
(
$ECM.X |
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PowerRating),
down 2.74% at 30.16, and the Oil Service Sector Index
(
$OSX.X |
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PowerRating), down
1.45% at 71.68.
Networking giant Cisco
Systems
(
CSCO |
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PowerRating), up 7.62% at 12.99, was a a big gainer on the heels of
of its better than expected earnings announcement, as it beat analysts
projections by 2 cents. Elsewhere in the sector, Tellabs
(
TLAB |
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PowerRating), up
12.14% at 5.91, and Juniper Networks
(
JNPR |
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PowerRating), down 2.27% at 7.31.
Insurance company Aon
(
AOC |
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PowerRating),
down 30.33% at 14.77, reported worse than expected earnings as concerns over its
accounting practices arose.
Broadcasting and cable TV
company Tivo Inc.
(
TIVO |
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PowerRating), up 29.34% at 3.35, announced better than
expected earnings, easily ahead of its analysts’ consensus.
Chip maker Maxim Integrated (MXIM),
up 5.98% at 30.99, missed its fourth-quarter earnings estimates by a penny with
profits of 20 cents a share.
Also in the chip business, Intel
(
INTC |
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PowerRating), up 3.44% at 17.72, and
Advanced Micro Devices
(
AMD |
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PowerRating), up 3.37% at 31.89.
Mining company Newmont Mining (NEM),
, beat its second-quarter earnings expectations by 2 cents with profits of
16 cents per share.
Biotech company Gilead Sciences (GILD),
up 3.37% at 31.89, won a FDA panel backing for Hepatitis B drug.
Medical equipment maker Guidant (GDT),
up 4.27% at 34.90, received FDA approval of its Endotak Relliance
active-fixation defibrillation lead.
In the software sector, Microsoft
(
MSFT |
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PowerRating),
up 3.10% at 47.09, and Oracle
(
ORCL |
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PowerRating), up 2.03% at 9.52.
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