Airlines, Brokerages Finally Buck Downard Trend

A few sectors were able to buck the downward trend on Friday, most notably airlines and brokerages, although few others were spared selling.

Airlines

US Airways(U Quote) was up 2.3% to $4.55. Continental(CAL Quote) rose 5% to $14.66, and Delta Air Lines(DAL Quote) gained 3% to $22.47. UAL(UAL Quote), the holding company for United Airlines, traded fell 0.6% to $17.13, and Southwest(LUV Quote) rose 6% to $13.60.

But the news wasn't all good. Northwest(NWAC Quote) was falling 5% to $10.45 following news that the carrier would cut 10,000 jobs, or 25% of its workforce, and reduce service by 20%. AMR(AMR Quote), the parent of American Airlines and TWA, was down 3% to $17.90. The company, which earlier this week set plans to cut jobs, detailed that among those let go would be 386 pilots from American Airlines and 120 from TWA. The entire sector has been pounded this week as concerns mount about cash burn rates and evaporating demand.

Technology

Technology stocks, which have generally sold off this week, were still reeling. Computer maker Dell(DELL Quote) dropped 4.8% to $16.63, while Oracle(ORCL Quote) shed 5.8% to $10.76. Sun Microsystems(SUNW Quote) was down 6% to $7.96, and Cisco(CSCO Quote) sank 6.1% to $12.09.

Microsoft(MSFT Quote) slipped 2%, and JDS Uniphase(JDSU Quote), fell 6.3%. Intel(INTC Quote) was off 6.6%, while Texas Instruments(TXN Quote) gained 1.3%.

Brokerages

Brokerage stocks were mostly up Friday after a brutal week. Morgan Stanley(MWD Quote) rose 6.5% to $40.08, and Merrill Lynch(MER Quote) was up 4.5% to $37.65. Lehman Brothers(LEH Quote) gained 1.8%, and Goldman Sachs(GS Quote) rose 3%. Charles Schwab(SCH Quote) gained 6.3% to $9.50.

Energy

Energy companies were mixed, with most hovering around the flatline. However, Royal Dutch Petroleum(RD Quote) was off 1.8% to $44, while Halliburton(HAL Quote) gained 4.7% to $22.58.

Basic Materials

Basic materials stocks were generally off between 1% and 2%, but chemical company Hercules(HPC Quote) shed 5.6% to $6.95, and Allegheny Technologies(ATI Quote) lost 9% to $13.20. Steelmaker Nucor(NUE Quote) was up 3% to $35.54.