Market Shrugs Off Negativity

The market
shrugged off Middle East, Argentina and Enron
,
as a post-lunch rally sent the indices higher. Technology led the charge, with
the semiconductor index
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gaining 6.50%.

The Dow
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gained 129.40 to 9893.36; the
Nasdaq
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rose 58.16 to 1963.06, closing above its 200-day moving average; the
S&P 500
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was up 13.34 to 1143.24.

November same-store sales rose 3%, as
steep discounts lured holiday shoppers. For the last week of the month, however,
sales were weak. Home Depot
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rose 1.31 to 47.70. Wal-Mart
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gained .59 to 55.17.

There were even a few 52-week highs on
the Nasdaq, including Electronic Arts
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, Genesis Microchip
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,
and CBRL Group
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.

Cisco
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said that November
orders met expectations, and that it expects to gain more market share next
quarter.

Sprint
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cut its forecast by
21%, citing poor data transmission sales. FON lost .58 to 21.12.

Enron
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shares more than
doubled, up .46 to .86.

Other big Nasdaq movers included:
Juniper
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, up 8% to 25.12, Applied Materials
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up 7% to
42.15, and Broadcom
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up almost 9%.

CNet Networks
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jumped 37%
after it announced a subscription-based alliance with RealNetworks. CNET closed
at 9.60, up 2.95.

J.D. Edwards
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spiked %
after reporting better-than-expected Q4 earnings yesterday. The stock rose 1.56
to 15.

Tony
Crescenzi
said today the bond market is pricing in an 85% chance of a
25-basis-point rate cut at next week’s Fed meeting.