Dow Down, But This Sector Is Up Over 4%
Stocks are
mixed on disappointing news. Payroll
numbers released for the month of December increased by a mere 1,000, much lower
than expected. The dollar fell hard on the news, hitting fresh lows against the
euro at 1.2868. Dow component Alcoa
(
AA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported disappointing
earnings of $340 million. $105 million came from insurance settlements and a
lowered tax rate. Higher steel prices accounted for $5.5 billion of AA’s
fourth-quarter sales. Ford
(
F |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) expects higher earnings for 2004 due to
the launch of new vehicles and a market recovery. The US lowered its national
terror threat level to “elevated” from “high.”
Oil prices rose to post-Iraq war highs on fears cold weather in the United States will eat into crude stocks that are already at their lowest since 1975. Shares of Royal Dutch
(
RD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) fell more than 7% after the company cut its proven reserves of crude and natural gas by 20%. The Oil Service Index rose 4.65%.
| Dow | +58.04 |
10534.81 |
| S&P 500 | -2.57 | 1129.33 |
| Nasdaq | +9.08 | 2109.35 |
The day’s leading sectors are
Oil Service Sector
(
OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +4.31%, Amex Gold Bugs
(
HUI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+2.20%, Biotechs
(
BTK.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.90%, Gold and Silver
(
XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+1.78%, and Energy [DXE.X|DXE.X]
+1.24%.
Weak today are Chemicals
(
CEX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.71%, and Telecom
(
XTC.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.32%.
Economic news releases included Hourly earnings that rose by 0.2%, Payrolls that rose by 1,000, an unemployment rate of 5.7% and an average workweek of 33.7 hours. Initial claims fell to 353,000 and wholesale inventories rose by 0.5%.
10-year Notes are +1045
at 113 215 155
The dollar
is -0.53 at 85.35
Gold is +1.10 at 426.50
Crude Oil is +0.46 at
33.74
Volume is 799,000,000 on
the NYSE, and 1,271,000,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is positive.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1820 | Up Vol 413 |
| Declining | 1315 | Down Vol 366 |
| Ratio | 1.38 | 1.13 |
| Nasdaq | ||
| Advancing | 1561 | Up Vol 864 |
| Declining | 1486 | Down Vol 374 |
| Ratio | 1.12 | 2.31 |
Top Dow stocks are:
Home Depot
(
HPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.16% at
35.90, Boeing [BA|BA],
+0.86% at 42.22, Procter & Gamble [PG|PG],
+0.83% at 99.58, and Intel
(
INTC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+0.76% at 34.77.
Stocks in the news:
Utstarcom
(
UTSI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) traded lower after
reporting it would sell 12.1 million shares to Bank of America Securities for
$475 million.
Merrill Lynch downgraded SBC Communications
(
SBC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) on valuation concerns as its stock has risen 46% over the year while
its competitors trade at a discount.
Maker of the well-known WD-40 lubricant
(
WDFC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
lost 10% after reporting net income of $4.4 million for the quarter. President
Garry Ridge said the company expects to meet its previous earnings and sales
forecasts. Sales for the quarter rose by 2.3% to $52.5 million.
IBM
(
IBM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) signed an agreement with
RealNetworks
(
RNWK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) to develop technology to facilitate cheaper digital
and audio Internet content.
bricew@tradingmarkets.com