Stocks End Higher, Technology Strong
Stocks closed higher on Thursday,
one day before the quarter end. Stocks
were boosted by a merger in the brokerage industry and a good report from Pepsi.
Energy is still in focus-–
crude rose 0.44 to close at $66.79.
ETrade
(
ET |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is acquiring BrownCo for
$1.6 billion.
Pepsi
(
PEP |
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PowerRating) beat by 0.05 and guided
higher. The stock rose 1.44 to close at 56.50.
Final GDP for Q2 was 3.3%, inline. Jobless claims
for the week of 9/24 fell 79,000 to 356,000, a larger than expected decline.
Strong Sectors were: Gold
(
XAU |
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PowerRating)
+1.96% Semis
(
SOX |
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News |
PowerRating)
+1.54% Computer Hardware
(
HWI |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+1.00%
Weak sectors were:
Healthcare
(
HMO |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -2.30% Airlines
(
XALI |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-0.63%
|
|
+79.69 | 10,552.78 |
| +25.82 | 2141.22 | |
| +10.79 | 1227.68 |
Stocks in the news:
Research in Motion
(
RIMM |
Quote |
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PowerRating) reported its Q2 at $111 million, or
0.56/share on $490.1 million revenue. The stock was downgraded to sell at
Deutsche Bank.
Red Hat
(
RHAT |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.02. The stock was upgraded to buy at UBS with
a $22 target.
Actuant
(
ATU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.03, ex-items.
American Greetings
(
AM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.08 but missed on revenues.
Brice Wightman