Recent Sideways Action Continues
The mixed performance
continues on Wall Street. The Nasdaq remains a few points below the flat line,
while the Dow and S&P 500 are still showing mild gains.
Following a sharp initial move to the downside, the airline
sector has come off its intraday lows. The sector, which has fallen over the
past couple of days on bankruptcy concerns, is still down about 1%. The
broker/dealer sector is a noteworthy mover to the downside as well, falling by
0.83% despite better-than-expected earnings from Bear Stearns
(
BSC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating).
The HMO sector has gained through much of the morning and is now up about 1.1%.
The gain builds on a modest advance posted on Wednesday, as the sector attempts
to recover losses recorded early in the week. The gold sector has been coming
off its intraday highs since the first few minutes of trading and is now up
about 1.3%.
McDonald’s
(
MCD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is the best performing Dow component,
bouncing back from 3 days of sharp declines that took the stock off a multi-week
high. The stock is now up about 2%. Altria
(
MO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and
(
AIG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) are other
strong performers among the blue chips, climbing by 1.5% and 1%, respectively.
Hewlett-Packard
(
HPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is the worst performing blue chip,
but it is down just about 1%. Alcoa
(
AA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and 3M
(
MMM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) are each posting
modest losses as well. Wal-Mart
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is showing moderate weakness, but that
has been enough to take the stock to a new 52-week low.
UICI
(
UCI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is one of the best performers in the early
going after it agreed to be acquired by a group of private investment firms for
$37 per share. The stock is currently up $5.20, or 17%.
Dana Corp.
(
DCN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is among the morning’s biggest percentage decliners on
lowered 2005 guidance and a restatement of its second-quarter results. The stock
is now down $2.70, or 22%.
Biggest Risers And Fallers
S&P 500:
Delta Airlines
(
DAL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +30.98%, MedImmune
(
MEDI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+4.95% and Nvidia
(
NVDI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.14%.
Dana Corp.
(
DCN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) – 21.20%, Fifth Third Bancorp
(
FITB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -4.78% and
Delphi Corp.
(
DPH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -4.37%.
Nasdaq 100:
MedImmune
(
MEDI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+4.95%, Cephalon
(
CEPH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.22%
and Amgen
(
AMGN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.18%.
EchoStar Communications
(
DISH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -4.81%, Sanmina
(
SANM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -2.67% and
Altera Corp.
(
ALTR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -2.52%.
Strongest Sectors
Gold Bugs
(
HUI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.39%, Gold and Silver
(
XAU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.24%
and Healthcare
(
HMO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.1%.
Weakest Sectors
Airlines
(
XAL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.33%, Semiconductors
(
SOX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.05% and
Broker Dealer
(
XBD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.83%.
| Dow | +7.73 | 10,552.63 |
| Nasdaq | -2.86 | 2146.47 |
| S&P 500 | +1.05 | 1228.21 |
| NYSE | Nasdaq | |
| Volume | 718,345,000 | 661,955,000 |
| Up Volume | 299 (48%) | 203 (33%) |
| Down Volume | 313 (50%) | 393 (65%) |
| Advances | 1497 | 1099 |
| Declines | 1504 | 1623 |
Ashton Dorkins