Big Surprise From Big Blue
Stocks
reversed course this mid-day with all indices higher. The
National Association of Manufacturers said in its annual economic forecast that
a rebounding US factory should generate about 250,000 jobs in 2004 — with the
biggest gains in fabricated metals, industrial equipment and electronics.
Computer titan IBM
(
IBM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported earnings five days earlier than
expected with the stock gaining 5%. Juniper
(
JNPR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
Rambus
(
RMBS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), and Sun Microsystems
(
SUNW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) are expected
to report earnings after the close.
| Dow | +19.48 |
10557.66 |
| S&P 500 | +2.59 | 1133.41 |
| Nasdaq | 2.16 | 2113.87 |
The day’s leading sectors are
Banks
(
BIX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.30%, Semis
(
SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.02%,
Networking
(
NWX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.72%, and Technology
(
TXX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.49%.
Weak today are Amex Gold
Bugs
(
HUI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -5.41%, and Gold and Silver
(
XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -4.22%.
Economic news releases included
the Consumer Price Index rising by 0.2%; NY Empire State Index at 39.2; Initial
claims at 343,000; and Retail Sales up 0.5%.
10-year Notes are -30
at 114 185
The dollar
is +0.43 at 86.75
Gold is -13.00 at 410.00
Crude Oil is -0.41 at
32.90
Volume is 700,000,000 on
the NYSE, and 941,000,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is negative.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1334 | Up Vol 322 |
| Declining | 1733 | Down Vol 374 |
| Ratio | 1.30 | 1.5 |
| Nasdaq | ||
| Advancing | 1244 | Up Vol 382 |
| Declining | 1752 | Down Vol 514 |
| Ratio | 1.41 | 1.34 |
Top Dow stocks are:
IBM [IBM|IBM],
+4.81% at 94.74, Hewlett Packard
(
HPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.48% at 25.50, Honeywell
[HON|HON], +1.11%
at 36.52, and American Express [AXP|AXP],
0.96% at 49.24
Stocks in the news:
Fairchild Semiconductor
(
FCS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) posted
strong earnings, with shares trading 5% higher and hitting a 20-month high. The
company reported net income of $5.3 million on sales of $369.2 million.
Bank of America
(
BAC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) disappointed
investors despite posting higher fourth-quarter profits. Net income rose 4% to
$2.73 billion on revenue of $9.79. The company said that commercial borrowings
remained weak while consumer lending and defaults fared better, adding that it
might exceed ’04 forecasts.
Intel
(
INTC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) traded lower after
giving investors a pessimistic first-quarter outlook. Net income for the fourth
quarter rose to $2.2 billion with sales at $8.74 billion, beating analysts’
forecasts. The company expects sales in the range of $7.9 billion – $8.5
billion, with gross margin at 60%.
Teradyne
(
TER |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported a much smaller
net loss of $11.5 million compared to $423 a year ago, as investors pushed the
stock up 7%. The company experienced a 45% spike in net orders, with sales
reaching $357.6 million.
bricew@tradingmarkets.com