Good News For The Semis
Stocks
are slightly higher on a mix of economic news, with the Nasdaq falling below
2,000 once again. Jobless claims were higher than expected, rising
12,000 to 352,000. Import prices were strong, climbing 1.6%, the biggest
one-month gain since February of last year and the eighth consecutive monthly
rise. Cost of petroleum products imported jumped 10.3% as crude prices shot past
$42 a barrel. Excluding energy costs, import prices rose 0.4% with export prices
up 0.2%.
The Semiconductor Industry
Association raised its growth forecast to 28% from 19%; PC and handset growth is
anticipated to be faster than expected. The SOX is up 1.12%.
The Bank of England raised its
benchmark interest rate for a second consecutive month, by a quarter point to
4.5 percent, to prevent record consumer borrowing and surging house prices from
fueling inflation. National Semiconductor
(
NSM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) posted earnings of
$126.4 million on revenue of $571.2 million with gross margin reaching an
all-time high of 54.4%.
Fedex
(
FDX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) said it
will beat previous earnings forecasts and expects income to be at least $1.36
per share. The FDA approved a mix of generic versions of the antibiotic Cipro,
which is used to treat Anthrax. Eleven companies received approvals for their
generics, including Ivax
(
IVX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Mylan
(
MYL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Teva
Pharmaceutical Industries
(
TEVA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), and others.
| Dow | +21.79 | 10390.08 |
| S&P 500 | +2.86 | 1134.19 |
| Nasdaq | +2.50 | 1993.11 |
Strong today are Gold and
Silver
(
XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.35%, Amex Gold Bugs
(
HUI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.12%,
Natural Gas
(
XNG.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.71%, Oil Services
(
OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.67%.
Weak today are Airlines
(
XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -3.20%, Internet
(
ECM.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.26%.
Economic news release today
included Export Prices ex-ag up 0.2% and Import Prices excluding oil that rose
by 0.3%.
10-year Notes are -15 at
108 265
The dollar
is -0.51 at 89.24
Gold is +0.80 at 385.30
Crude Oil is +0.76 at
38.30
Volume is 538,000
million on the NYSE, and 629,000 million on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is positive.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1772 | Up Vol 306 |
| Declining | 1300 | Down Vol 220 |
| Ratio | 1.36 | 1.39 |
| Nasdaq |
||
| Advancing | 1491 | Up Vol 304 |
| Declining | 1400 | Down Vol 301 |
| Ratio | 1.06 | 1.01 |
Top Dow stocks are:
McDonalds
(
MCD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+1.33%, Exxon Mobil
(
XOM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.29% General Motors
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+1.26% SBC Communications
(
SBC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.03%.
Stocks in the news:
Target
(
TGT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) made an all-time
high of $47.40 on news of the sale of its Marshall Field’s unit to May
Department Stores
(
MAY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) for $3.2 billion.
RJ Reynolds
(
RJR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
said the FDA requested more time to review its acquisition of British American
Tobacco.
Jetblue
(
JBLU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) announced its
first international flight to teh Dominican Republic and is expected to start
service to Canada and Mexico later this year. The company has plans to expand
its fleet by 150 planes and hire 18,000 workers in the next seven years.
Brice Wightman
bricew@tradingmarkets.com