Will Semis Lead Tomorrow?
After
gapping down off the open, the major indexes made strong rallies to
12:00 pm, pulled back for almost an hour, then went roaring up again into the
close. Leading the action were utilities, oil services, chemicals, retail,
healthcare, and banks. There were no sectors closing negative on the day.
The Semiconductor Index
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PowerRating), up 4.20%, was a latecomer to today’s rally, though if we can
see a swing point set up after tomorrow, it will signal a potential Haggerty
1-2-3 bottom pattern. This sector should also be watched for follow through as
many of its stocks closed at the top of their ranges.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
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$INDU.X |
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PowerRating) closed up 6.33% at 8190.18. The
S&P 500
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$SPX.X |
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PowerRating) closed up 5.73% at 843.48. The Nasdaq
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$COMPQ |
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PowerRating)
closed up 4.95% at 1290.01.
U.S. Treasury Bonds were
down ‘9 at 105 ’30.
There were no economic releases today. Thursday will bring
data for durable orders, unemployment, and existing homes.
Market breadth was positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 1.54, and up
volume over down volume by a 4.49 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining
issues came in at 1.36, and up volume beat down volume by a 2.97 ratio. The
VIX
was down 5.19 at 45.29. The TRIN
was down 0.56 at 0.34.
Heavy volume brought the Dow, the S&P 500, and
the Nasdaq to closes at the top their daily ranges. The Broker/Dealer Index
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$XBD.X |
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PowerRating) down 4.23%, closed at the bottom of its daily range.
The top sectors of the day were the Utility
Sector Index
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$UTY.X |
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PowerRating), up 9.28% at 245.43, and the Oil Service
Sector Index
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$OSX.X |
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PowerRating), up 8.67% at 76.13.
Losing
sectors: There were no sectors closing negative.
Banker J.P. Morgan
(
JPM |
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PowerRating), up 16.03% at 23.30, rose after the
company addressed the recent decline of its share price over accusations of
misleading investors over Enron’s accounting, The company also upgraded Citigroup
(
C |
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PowerRating) to “buy” from “market performer.”
Conglomerate General Electric
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GE |
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PowerRating), up 6.97% at 26.53, announced
that it will lay off 2,500 workers over the next nine months in response to the
lack of demand for its power-generation equipment.
Drug maker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK),
up 5.14% at 34.55, said that US
regulators have asked for more studies of their impotence treatment drug,
delaying the potential release of a competitor to Pfizer’s Viagra.Â
Also in the drug-making business, Merck
(
MRK |
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PowerRating), up 9.09% at 42.60,
rose after it announced a $10 billion stock buyback, and would pay a 36-cent
quarterly dividend.
Home builder Beazer Homes (BZH),
up 5.89% at 61.26, has beat its third-quarter earnings by 22 cents with profits
of $2.59 per share. Revenues were up 67% from a year ago.
Security company InVision (INVN),
down 3.92% at 24.50, has beat its second-quarter earnings by 5 cents a share
with profits of 52 cents a share. The company has also raised its guidance for
the third-quarter.
Online travel agent Expedia (EXPE),
down 0.16% at 48.33, has beat its earnings estimates by 5 cents with
second-quarter profits of 45 cents a share. The company also raised its guidance
for the rest of 2002.Â
Chemical maker DuPont
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DD |
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PowerRating), up 8.71% at 40.28, announced better
than expected earnings though said it was cautious for the rest of the year.
Software maker Microsoft
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MSFT |
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PowerRating), up 7.48% at 46.23, received an
upgrade from RBC Capital Markets to “outperform” from “sector
perform.”
Oil company Exxon Mobil
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XOM |
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PowerRating), up 9.73% at 33.93, was upgraded by
Bank of America to “strong buy” from “buy” on the belief
that its recent underperformance was driven mainly by technical factors.