Why Nasdaq Outperformed Dow
The stock market turned in a mixed
performance Tuesday as the blue chips slipped lower on lower-than-expected
productivity data while the Nasdaq Composite gapped up on the open, retreated
into the red for most of the session before recovering to end the day with a
slight gain.
The Dow Jones industrials edged 0.5%
lower, the S&P 500 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.1%. New York Stock
Exchange Volume rose 4.5%, Nasdaq volume 6.7%.Â
In the sectors, the Philadelphia
Semiconductor Index
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PowerRating) advanced 1.5%. Chipmaker PMC-Sierra
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PMCS |
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rose 12.2%. The AMEX Internet Index
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PowerRating) 1.5%, the Goldman Sachs
Internet Index
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PowerRating) 1.4%.
On the downside, the Amex Securities
Broker/Dealer Index
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PowerRating) 0.6%.
The Nasdaq benefited from analyst
remarks indicating Cisco System’s
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CSCO |
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turn helped chipmakers. The networking giant gained 5.8%. Among the Nasdaq
winners, Ciena
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CIEN |
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PowerRating) closed up 11.4% after saying that it sold more than
$150 million in optical systems to Tycom, which is building an undersea network.
Next Level Communications
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NXTV |
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PowerRating) gained 18.7% after the communications
equipment maker concluded a sales deal with Motorola
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PowerRating). Motorola agreed
to help sell Next Level’s broadband access systems to telecom customers.
Whole Foods Market
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WFMI |
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8.0% on heavy volume after the grocery store chain reported robust Q1 profits
and projected 15% to 20% revenue growth for the second half of the year.
Among the NYSE stocks, Pepsi Bottling
Group
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PBG |
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PowerRating) gapped up 5.2% after the announcement of its addition to the
S&P 500 Index. On the downside, Legg Mason
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LM |
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PowerRating) fell 6.5%.