Nasdaq Pegs 2000 Again

Sanford Bernstein lifted its forecast for Advanced Micro Devices (AMD Quote), citing strength in its PC processor and flash memory businesses. The broker upped its estimate for fourth-quarter earnings to 7 cents a share from 1 cent a share, and for full-year 2004 to 40 cents a share from 22 cents a share. Both are above consensus forecasts of 3 cents and 26 cents a share for the fourth quarter and 2004, respectively. AMD gained 58 cents, or 4%, to $15.28.

Tomorrow, the Chicago Purchasing Manager's Index is released and is expected to fall slightly to 62.0 in December from 64.1 last month. Elsewhere, the Conference Board's consumer confidence index is expected to improve slightly to 91.8 from 91.7. In addition, existing home sales are expected to slip slightly to 6.33 million units in November from 6.35 million in the previous month.