Nasdaq, Russell Hit New Highs as Market's Divergence Continues

Some more divergence with your stock market anyone?

While the Russell 2000 and the Nasdaq Composite Index both advanced smartly and closed at all-time highs, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 slumped as the major stock proxies again today diverged.

Major Indices
INDEX	CHANGE	%	VALUE	YR TO DATE
Dow	-138.06	-1.20%	11,351.30	-1.3%
S&P 500	-10.33	-0.71%	1445.57	-1.6%
Nasdaq	38.14	0.92%	4189.43	+2.3%
Russell 2000	7.26	1.40%	527.28	+4.5%
TSC Internet	13.16	1.16%	1145.35	-0.8%
TSC New Tech 30	26.02	+4.19%	647.11	+4.7%
BOND		CHANGE	PRICE	YIELD
30-Year Treasury		-8/32	92 4/32	6.74%

Volume was heavy, while breadth was negative on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market. It was the heaviest volume day in history on the Nasdaq with 1.831 billion shares changing hands, beating the old record set on Dec. 9, when 1.782 billion shares were traded.

According to Nasdaq, six of the 10 highest share volume days in Nasdaq's history have occurred during the first three weeks of this year. Additionally, more than 1.45 billion shares have traded on the Nasdaq every session this year.

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The Dow gave up 138.06, or 1.2%, to 11,351.30. Leading the losers parade among Dow components were Alcoa (AA Quote), 3M (MMM Quote) and Intel (INTC Quote).

The biggest positive influence on the blue-chip gauge came compliments of IBM (IBM Quote), which rose 1 7/8 to 121 3/8.

Cyclials got hammered. The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index tumbled 2.9%. The Morgan Stanley Commodity Related Equity Index stumbled 2.2%.

The S&P 500 gave up 10.33, or 0.7%, to 1445.57.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Comp rose 38.14, or 0.9%, to 4189.43, closing at an all-time high for the second straight day. Computer hardware and telecommunications stocks were among those that helped push the Comp to its record.

Sun Microsystems (SUNW Quote) offered some upside lift to the Comp, rising 3 5/8 to 86 9/16 ahead of its earnings, which were released after the close. Sun posted fiscal second-quarter earnings of 21 cents a share. The First Call/Thomson Financial 21-analyst estimate called for the company to earn 20 cents.

Small-caps continued to perform well. The Russell 2000 rose 7.26, or 1.4%, to 527.28, to close at an all-time high.

TheStreet.com Internet Sector index advanced 13.16, or 1.2%, to 1145.35. Powering the DOT higher were shares of BroadVision (BVSN Quote) and eBay (EBAY Quote).

Strong profit reports from IBM and Apple (AAPL Quote) to name a few, helped juice up the tech sector in the morning.

While the Dow and the S&P 500 started higher, their morning advances didn't last very long -- and didn't come close to the gains in the Comp or the Russell. Around midmorning, the Dow had succumbed to selling and dipped into the red, while it took the S&P 500 a while longer to join its blue-chip pal underwater.

The Comp and the Russell weren't immune to the selling pressure either, and tumbled well off their intraday highs. The Comp even slipped into negative territory a couple of times early this afternoon. The Russell, meanwhile, managed to avoid that fate.

At times in this young year, the market had broadened out as traders embraced cyclical and value areas of the market. However, lately that course has reversed. Jay Suskind, head of institutional equity trading at Ryan Beck, pointed out that the market just can't seem to get to that "take everybody up mentality."

And definitely everybody in the stock market didn't go up today.

In Big Board trading, 1.105 billion shares were exchanged while declining stocks beat advancers 1,815 to 1,216. In Nasdaq action 1.831 billion shares traded while losers beat winners 2,110 to 2,067. New 52-week lows beat new highs 121 to 95 on the NYSE while new highs beat new lows 389 to 73 in over-the-counter trading.

Suskind pointed out that playing into today's action and tomorrow's expectations is the fact that Friday marks the double expiration of some stock and futures options, which obviously creates volatility and volume surges.

Financials got pounded. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange/KBW Bank Index tumbled 2.7%. The NYSE Financial Index fell 1.7%.

The 30-year Treasury bond fell 8/32 to 92 4/32, putting its yield at 6.74%.

TheStreet.com New Tech 30 gained 26.02, or 4.2%, to 647.11. The TSC New Tech 30 is an expanded index designed to replace the Red Hots index: The market-cap-weighted index remains focused on tracking the most scorching part of the market, the magnet for Wall Street's hot money. A list of the new index components is available at http://www.thestreet.com/newtech/.

Dave Eberhart, analyst at Optima Investment Research, in Chicago, said that if the S&P 500 can get above 1450 it should test 1473, which was the gauge's three-week high, set last Friday.

Eberhart also pointed out that the Russell has outperformed the big-cap S&P 500 since mid-October.

Eberhart said a lot of the Russell's rally has been skewed by the strong performance of its tech members. He believes the reason for the Russell's outperformance is due to people not necessarily looking for small caps, and instead are focused on smaller tech stocks in addition to big-cap tech.

He said that in the last six months, the technology subindex of the Russell 2000 has risen 82%, compared to the producer durables subindex, which is up only 29.6% over the same period. Over the past six months, half of the Russell's subindexes are down, Eberhart said.

Eberhart said there's not a clear identifiable top in stocks right now and going with the trend "you have to assume" the market's going to continue higher.

Among other indices, the Dow Jones Utility Average rose 7.28, or 2.4%, to 308.82. Elsewhere, the Dow Jones Transportation Average shed 53.73, or 1.9%, to 2784.31; the American Stock Exchange Composite Index added 9.04, or 1%, to 899.61.

Elsewhere in North American equities, the Toronto Stock Exchange 300 rose 47.83, or 0.6%, to 8682.9 and the Mexican Stock Exchange IPC Index fell 134.41, or 1.9%, to 7036.79.

For coverage of today's top stocks in the news, see the Company Report, published separately.