Tech Gains, Energy Sells Off

The U.S. stock markets continue to turn in
a mixed performance in mid-afternoon trading on Thursday, with the major
averages churning near breakeven. While the Nasdaq is posting a notable gain,
the Dow and the S&P 500 close flat.

The upward move by the tech-heavy Nasdaq
is partly due to strength that has emerged in the semiconductor sector. Intel
(
INTC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
has helped to lead the sector higher after Banc of America raised its earnings
estimates for the semiconductor giant.

The price of oil saw some further downside
on Thursday after showing a substantial decline in the previous session, with
crude for February delivery closing down $2.73 at $55.59 a barrel after also
ending Wednesday’s

trading down $2.73 a barrel.

With the decrease, the price of oil ended
the session at its lowest closing level in over a year, as traders continued to
express concerns about reduced heating fuel demand in light of warmer than
normal temperatures.

After showing a steep decline in the
previous session, the price of gold saw some further downside over the course of
the

trading day on Thursday. Gold for February delivery closed down $3.60 at
$626.20 an ounce after ending Wednesday’s trading down more than $8 an ounce.

Stocks on the Move

Monsanto
(
MON |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Harvests Rich Q1 – Net Income Up 53%, EPS Tops
Estimate; Sees FY07 EPS Below Consensus (full
story).  MON shares fall by 1.7%.

Ryanair
(
RYAAY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Soaring After Posting 19% Increase In Passenger
Growth (full
story).  RYAAY shares rise by nearly 3%.

Federated Department Stores
(
FD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Reports Increase In December
Same-store Sales; Total Sales Decline On Closure Of Stores (full
story).  FD shares fall by 0.5%.

Cisco
(
CSCO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) To Acquire IronPort Systems For $830Mln In Cash And
Stock (full
story).  CSCO shares rise by 2.8%.

Hot Topic
(
HOTT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) December Comps. Decline 5.1%, Cuts Q4 Outlook (full
story).  HOTT shares drop 16.25%.

Constellation Brands
(
STZ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Q3 Profit Up, Adj. Profit Down, Sales
Grow 18%, Trims Q4 EPS View On Weak U.K. Sales (full
story).  STZ shares drop 11.5%.

For more stories as they happen, go to our
Breaking News section.

Market Snapshot

Strongest/Weakest Sectors

Economic News

The E.I.A. reports that crude oil inventories had a draw of 1.299 mln barrels

Factory Orders +0.9% vs +1.4% consensus

ISM Services 57.1 vs 57.0 consensus

Darren Wong
darrenw@tradingmarkets.com

P.S.

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