Tech Stocks Bounce Back
10/12/07 - 04:55 PM EDT
Robert Holmes
The Philadelphia Housing Sector Index slumped 1.2% as each of the housing stocks fell by 2.5% or more.
Traders also had to contend with a new round of economic data. A day after chain stores posted same-store sales results for September, the government said that retail sales rose 0.6% last month, tripling expectations. Excluding autos, retail sales increased 0.4% in September, also topping expectations. Ian Shepherdson, chief economist with High Frequency Economics, said that the retail sales report is actually weaker than it appears. "Our measure of core, which excludes food, gas and autos, rose a mere 0.1%, following a 0.1% decline in August," he said. "If, as we expect, October sales are more or less flat too, this would mark the softest three-month patch since the spring of 2003, during the invasion of Iraq." At the same time, the Labor Department said the September growth for its producer price index came in at 1.1%, much hotter than the expected 0.5% rise. The core number, which excludes food and energy, advanced 0.1%, below consensus. Also on the economic docket, the University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index eased to a reading of 82.0 in October from 83.4 last month. Additionally, the government said that business inventories inched 0.1% higher in August, below expectations. Commodity prices ended mixed. Crude oil jumped past $84 for a time and finished up 61 cents to $83.69 a barrel, a new closing high. Gold futures were down $2.90 to $753.80 an ounce, and silver fell 8 cents to $13.90 an ounce. Treasury prices were lower following a choppy session. The 10-year note was off 11/32 in price, pushing the yield to 4.68%. The 30-year bond was down 21/32 to yield 4.91%. Overseas markets were mixed. In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 1%, and Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.7%. In Europe, London's FTSE 100 and Germany's Xetra Dax tacked on 0.1%.
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