Stocks Near Flat Line
Stocks came under
pressure in early trading on Friday, but the markets did not see much
follow-through on the initial downward move. The limited downside came as
traders were reluctant to make any significant moves due to uncertainty about
Hurricane Rita. Subsequently, over the course of the morning, the major averages
have moved well off their worst levels of the day.
The recover reflects some strength that has emerged in the
insurance sector, with the sector currently up by 1.2 The gains among insurance
stocks come as traders are doing some bargain hunting after the sector showed a
particularly steep decline earlier this week.
Casino gaming and airline stocks are also posting notable
gains, with the airline sector benefiting from a decrease in the price of oil.
Among airline stocks, Airtran
(
AAI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Frontier
(
FRNT |
Quote |
Chart |
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PowerRating) and
SkyWest
(
SKYW |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) are posting notable gains.
Meanwhile, significant weakness that remains visible among
computer hardware, oil service, and gold stocks.
Biggest Risers And Fallers
S&P 500:
Delphi
(
DPH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +11.53%, Darden Restaurants
(
DRI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +5.98%
and Alberto Culver
(
ACV |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +5.94%.
Oracle
(
ORCL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -9.17%, Alcoa
(
AA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -6.47% and Countrywide Financial
(
CFC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-3.31%.
Nasdaq 100:
Sanmina-SCI
(
SAMN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+4.93%, MedImmune
(
MEDI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +3.19% and Apple Computer
(
AAPL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+2.01%.
Oracle
(
ORCL |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -9.17%,
Patterson-UTI Energy
(
PTEN |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+-2.38% and .
Strongest Sectors
Healthcare
(
HMO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.68%, Airline
(
XAL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.73% and
Insurance
(
IUX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.06%.
Weakest Sectors
Computer HardwareÂ
(
HWI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -2.05%, Oil Service
(
OSX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.69%
and Gold and Silver
(
XAU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.36%.
| Dow | -18.00 | 10,404.05 |
| Nasdaq | -0.81 | 2109.97 |
| S&P 500 | -1.02 | 1213.60 |
| NYSE | Nasdaq | |
| Volume | 797,421,000 | 664,926,000 |
| Up Volume | 334 (47%) | 295 (47%) |
| Down Volume | 362 (51%) | 313 (50%) |
| Advances | 1348 | 1320 |
| Declines | 1663 | 1402 |
| New Hi’s | 54 | 68 |
| New Lo’s | 99 | 74 |
Ashton Dorkins