Dell Keeps Tech Afloat
Robert Holmes
11/22/06 - 04:41 PM EST
Updated from 4:16 p.m. EST
Tech shares got a lift from
Dell's (DELL Quote) big quarter and blue chips eked out gains as the final full session of the trading week came to a close.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average added 5.36 points, or 0.04%, to 12,326.95, and the
S&P 500 tacked on 3.28 points, or 0.23%, to 1406.09. The
Nasdaq Composite was up 11.14 points, or 0.45%, to 2465.98.
Buoying the technology sector was Dell, whose third-quarter profit of $677 million, or 30 cents a share, easily exceeded analysts' estimates. The strength of the report was a surprise, given the fact that it was delayed a week because of a probe into the company's accounting and financials.
Shares of Dell surged following the report, jumping $2.31, or 9.3%, to $27.13.
To close higher, Wall Street had to overcome the sluggishness that followed a slightly soft report on consumer attitudes. The University of Michigan revised its consumer sentiment index for November lower to 92.1, whereas economists had been anticipating a revision to 93.0 from 92.3 earlier in the month.
Following the data, several retailers sank into negative territory.
Lowe's (LOW Quote) lost 1.1%,
Kohl's (KSS Quote) was down 1.4%, and
Walgreen (WAG Quote) was off by 0.4%.
As for other sectors, semiconductors were the big winners. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Sector Index was 1.2% higher. Oil stocks were among the hardest hit, with the Amex Oil Index losing 0.7%.
Pressuring the Dow was
General Motors (GM Quote). The automaker's shares sank 4.7% after its largest individual shareholder, billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp., revealed that it cut its stake in the company to 7.4% from 9.9%, according to a
Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Another Dow stock,
Alcoa (AA Quote), was higher. After the prior close, the aluminum giant said it would eliminate 6,700 jobs as part of a bid to save $125 million a year on a pretax basis. Three plants will also be shut down. Alcoa shares rose 4.3% to $30.43.
U.S. markets will be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday. On Friday, trading will end at 1 p.m. EST.
Overall, stocks have been listless thus far this week and haven't closed far from the flat line. However, that doesn't mean investors have lost interest.
"This weekend is the biggest shopping weekend of the year and a much better measure of consumer confidence than any survey," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist with Cantor Fitzgerald. "Even with all of this good news, it will take strong retail sales to keep investors from profit-taking come Monday morning."
Also on the economic docket, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose by 12,000 to 321,000 last week. The less volatile four-week moving average moved higher by 3,000 to 317,000.
Treasuries edged ahead. The 10-year note was up 3/32 in price, yielding 4.56%. The dollar was mixed against the world's major currencies, and gold was higher by 30 cents at $635.40.
Crude prices dropped after of the Energy Department's weekly inventory report showed a larger-than-expected increase in crude stocks. Oil inventories rose by 5.1 million barrels and gasoline stocks rose by 1.4 million barrels. Distillate inventories were down 1.2 million barrels. January crude futures lost 93 cents and closed below $60.
The inventory number failed to solidify the $60 level, something Pado said would be "a small negative for the market heading into the long weekend. Falling back below $59 should set the ball in motion to push crude to test the support at $57."
