Will Tech Lead The Market To New Highs?
Stocks
are solidly higher this midday. After a two-day pullback, the major indices
are enjoying a broad-based rally with only gold and insurance stocks not
participating. The Dow, S&P, and the Nasdaq have all regained yesterday’s
losses in the first two and a half hours of trading. The catalyst for today’s
rally came from a better-than-expected earnings report from graphics chip maker Nvidia
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NVDA |
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PowerRating). Positive comments about a strong Chinese demand and a
recovery in the semiconductor industry from Intel president, Paul Otellini,
also help boosted the market. Bonds are moderately lower after a four-day run
while the dollar reached another four-year low against the euro.Â
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average
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$INDU.X |
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PowerRating) is 1.30% at 8,601.80. The S&P 500
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$SPX.X |
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is +1.301% at 932.28. The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
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PowerRating) is 1.81% at
1516.24..
The day’s leading sectors are Semiconductors
(
$SOX.X |
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PowerRating), +3.24%, Disk Drives
(
$DDX.X |
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$BTK.X |
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$FPP.X |
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PowerRating), +2.21%..
Weak today are Gold
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$XAU.X |
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PowerRating).
No economic news to report
today.Â
The 10-year U.S. Note
is -50 at 116 170.
The dollar is up 0.07 at
95.18.
Gold is -0.20 at 348.50
Crude Oil +0.77 at
27.75
Volume is 649,000,000
on the NYSE, and at 843,000,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is decisively
positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 2.80, and up volume over
down volume by a 4.25 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining issues are at
2.06, and up volume over down volume is at a 3.92 ratio.
Top Dow stocks are:
American Express
(
AXP |
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PowerRating), +3.52% at
39.62, Caterpillar
(
CAT |
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INTC |
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+3.02% at 19.43, and Boeing
(
BA |
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Stocks in the news:
Chipmaker Nvidia
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NVDA |
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is up over 20% on very heavy volume. Late yesterday the company reported first-quarter earnings that were off 80% from year-ago levels, but the company did
manage to beat estimates by 2 cents. This quarter’s lackluster results were due
mostly to slow sales of Microsoft’s XBox game console, but CEO Jen-Hsun Huang
expects XBox sales to pickup over the next two quarters.Â
Genzyme
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GENZ |
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higher by 2.5% on heavy volume. The company will end trading of its two separate
tracking stocks, Genzyme Biosurgery and Genzyme Molecular Oncology.Â
Video game maker Activision
(
ATVI |
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PowerRating) is off 4.5% on heavy volume. The company reported a fourth-quarter
loss of 13 cents a share, in line with expectations. Activision had previously
earned 17 cents a share in the same period a year ago. CEO Robert Kotick is
optimistic that the company’s diversified product line, strong partnerships, and
strong franchises will position the company for near- and long-term
opportunities. Â
ImClone Systems
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IMCL |
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PowerRating) is
down 7.00% on double its volume. The shares are under pressure today as a Wall
Street Journal article expressed doubt that the company’s auditors, KPMG, will
be unable to complete a review before the May 15 Nasdaq hearing. ImClone’s
shares are at risk of being de-listed because of the firm’s failure to file a 10K
report.