Stocks Give Back Early Gains
Wednesday’s session started brightly but
the early strength has faded in the past hour leaving only modest gains on Wall
Street.
Government data released Wednesday showed that crude oil
inventories recorded another drop in the latest week, adding to a recent string
of declines. However, stocks of gasoline advanced again during the period,
adding to the surprise gain they posted in the previous week. The Department of
Energy’s Energy Information Administration revealed that crude oil inventories
dropped by 2.4 million barrels for the week ended September 23, falling to 305.7
million barrels from the 308.1 million barrels recorded in the previous week.
This followed a decline of 300,000 barrels for the prior week. Even with the
recent declines, oil inventories remain 11.4% higher than their levels of the
same time last year.
Gasoline inventories posted a week-over-week advance of 4.4
million barrels, adding to the 3.4-million-barrel gain posted in the prior week.
Gasoline stocks are now only 2.9% below their levels of last year. Inventories
of distillate fuel oil fell by 500,000 barrels for the most recent week.
The networking sector is leading an advance among technology
stocks, rising by 1.4%. The semiconductor group is also strong, with further
gains coming from software and disk drive stocks.
Paychex
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PowerRating) is one of the most notable movers to the upside in
the early going after it beat expectations with its first-quarter earnings and
raised its revenue growth guidance for the full year. The stock is currently up
nearly 10%.
Lipman Electronics Engineering
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PowerRating) is among the
morning’s biggest percentage losers after it lowered its guidance for fiscal
2005. The stock is currently posting a decline of 23%.
GM
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PowerRating) is among the best performing Dow components,
rising by about 1.7% after it reached a deal with the Canadian Auto Workers’
union. IBM
(
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PowerRating) and McDonald’s
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PowerRating) are posting notable
gains as well, each rising more than 1.6%.
Caterpillar
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PowerRating) is the only blue chip posting a decline of more
than 1%, with a loss at this point of 1.3%.
Risers And Fallers
S&P 500:
Paychex
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PowerRating) +9.91%, MedImmune
(
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PowerRating) +5.50% and
Phelps Dodge
(
PD |
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PowerRating) +3.75.
Corning
(
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PowerRating) -4.04%, Tribune Co.
(
TRB |
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PowerRating) -2.88% and Apple Computer
(
AAPL |
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PowerRating) -2.75%.
Nasdaq 100:
Paychex
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PowerRating) +9.91%, MedImmune
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PowerRating) +5.50% and
Juniper Networks
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PowerRating) +3.14%.
Ross Stores
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PowerRating) -3.13%,
VeriSign
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PowerRating) -2.90% and Apple Computer
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AAPL |
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PowerRating) -2.75%.
Strongest Sectors
Networking
(
NWX |
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PowerRating) +1.43%, Utility
(
UTY |
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PowerRating) +1.01%
and Gold Bugs
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HUI |
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PowerRating) +0.89%.
Weakest Sectors
Retail
(
RLX |
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PowerRating) -1.39%, Healthcare Provider
(
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PowerRating) -0.61%
and Chemical
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PowerRating) -0.45%.
| Dow | -11.39 | 10,444.82 |
| Nasdaq | -3.98 | 2112.44 |
| S&P 500 | -1.38 | 1214.28 |
| NYSE | Nasdaq | |
| Volume | 943,022,000 | 822,225,000 |
| Up Volume | 506 | 396 |
| Down Volume | 335 | 352 |
| Advances | 1588 | 1202 |
| Declines | 1527 | 1601 |
| New Hi’s | 120 | 66 |
| New Lo’s | 73 | 46 |
Ashton Dorkins