Stocks Slighly Lower
Thursday’s session has picked up
where Wednesday left off, with the markets lacking in direction. A
mild early selloff was followed by a brief rally before the market settled into
a narrow range. With the month and quarter set to end tomorrow most traders have
been anticipating a directional move but so far it has failed to materialize.
The HMO sector is still the day’s most noteworthy decliner,
with a loss of nearly 4%. The gaming sector is another significant loser,
falling by 1.3%. Airline, chemical and network stocks are also showing weakness.
The gold sector is posting an advance of 1.4%, adding to
Wednesday’s gains. Energy stocks are also strong again, including a 1% advance
in the natural gas sector.
Red Hat
(
RHAT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is among the biggest percentage
gainers in the early going after it reported better-than-expected quarterly
results. The stock is currently posting an advance of $3.70, or 23%.
Cypress Bioscience
(
CYPB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is one of the morning’s
worst performers after a trial for milnacipran failed to achieve statistical
significance. The stock is down $7.40, or 58%.
Honeywell
(
HON |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is the worst performing Dow
component, down about 1.7%. Merck
(
MRK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and SBC
(
SBC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) are
also weak, each with losses of more than 1.3%. GM
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and United
Technologies
(
UTX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) are showing declines of about 1.1%.
There are no blue chips currently posting a gain of more than
1%. AIG
(
AIG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Caterpillar
(
CAT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Intel
(
INTC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
and Disney
(
DIS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) are posting modest advances.
Risers And Fallers
S&P 500:
American Greetings
(
AM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +10.25%, Fannie Mae
(
FNM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +3.25%
and eBay
(
EBAY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.75%.
Forest Labs
(
FRX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -9.33%, Robert
Half Int.
(
RHI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -2.85% and YUM Brands
(
YUM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -2.75%.
Nasdaq 100:
ICOS
(
ICOS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +6.50%, eBay
(
EBAY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+2.75% and Microchip Technology
(
MCHP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating).
Intuit
(
INTU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -2.33%, MedImmune
(
MEDI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-2.30% and
Paychex
(
PAYX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.98%.
Strongest Sectors
Gold Bugs
(
HUI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.98%, Gold and Silver
(
XAU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+1.70% and Natural Gas
(
XNG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.76%.
Weakest Sectors
Healthcare
(
HMO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -3.36%, Airline
(
XAL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.46% and Networking
(
NWX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-0.86%.
| Dow | -41.48 | 10,431.61 |
| Nasdaq | -1.19 | 2114.21 |
| S&P 500 | -3.57 | 1213.32 |
| NYSE | Nasdaq | |
| Volume | 748,064,000 | 637,592,000 |
| Up Volume | 229 | 245 |
| Down Volume | 415 | 320 |
| Advances | 1153 | 1066 |
| Declines | 1867 | 1643 |
| New Hi’s | 113 | 61 |
| New Lo’s | 66 | 57 |
Ashton Dorkins