Market Update: Hello Again, Nasdaq 3000, Are You Sticking Around?
Stocks rocketed into the green at the open this morning. Call it
Nasdaq 3000.
After the tech-heavy index closed below 3000 yesterday for the first time since Nov. 2, 1999, tech stocks were back in favor this morning. Ever-bullish
Abby Joseph Cohen
let investors know how she feels about the recent selloff, calling current levels the best buying opportunity all year. But, well, that's kind of after the fact. Besides, the bull has been bullish all year.
Anyway. Tech stocks helped the Nasdaq rip past 3000 at the bell, and were carrying the
Dow steadily higher as well.
Tech bellwethers were barreling forward all over the market, including Dow components software titan
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Microsoft Corporation Report
, semiconductor manufacturer
Intel
(INTC) - Get Intel Corporation Report
and PC-makers
IBM
(IBM) - Get International Business Machines Corporation Report
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and
Hewlett-Packard
(HWP)
. H-P took the heat for yesterday's selloff after the company missed earnings forecasts by 10 cents.
And all major tech sectors -- PC-makers, semiconductors, software stocks, networkers, and Internet stocks alike -- were climbing confidently.
Today's most actively traded stock was one of yesterday's biggest losers,
Oracle
(ORCL) - Get Oracle Corporation Report
, which was rising 11% to $27.50. Oracle was up partly on news of a deal with Citigroup
(C) - Get Citigroup Inc. Report
this morning. Under the deal, Oracle will integrate Citigroup's payment and settlement systems in its products, while Citigroup will use Oracle technology for its internal procurement processes.
But it was blue-chip retailers
Home Depot
(HD) - Get Home Depot Inc. (The) Report
and
Wal-Mart
(WMT) - Get Walmart Inc. Report
that were really charging up the Dow. After reporting strong earnings this morning, the pair was adding a combined 31 points to the index's upside. Financials
J.P. Morgan
(JPM) - Get JP Morgan Chase & Co. Report
and
American Express
(AXP) - Get American Express Company Report
were also doing their part, with a combined 37 points.
In fact, banks and the brokerages everywhere were turning around today. The two groups have been under a lot of pressure since last Friday.
One of the day's scarce losers, meanwhile, was doughnut king
Krispy Kreme
(KREM)
, after
Merrill Lynch
started coverage of the company this morning with a reduce rating, blaming bad brand management, possible fad status and predicted a stall in upcoming comparable store sales. Krispy Kreme was one of the year's hottest initial public offerings. The company's shares were falling 10.4%.
Can It Last?
Meanwhile, whether or not this thing can hold today may hang entirely on a court decision at midday today. In fact, news that a manual recount of votes in Florida has been halted, and that a resolution of the past week's election uncertainty may be near could be giving stocks some fuel this morning.
But whether that decision will actually come out at noon is, well, uncertain. And get this: markets don't like uncertainty. The ruling was initially scheduled to be issued at 10:30 a.m. EST, but it has been pushed back.
The court decision will determine whether today's 5 p.m. deadline to certify election results for Florida should stand or can be extended.
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Sector Watch
Sectors in the red were few and far between this morning. These few fatalities included paper stocks and utilities. The
Philadelphia Stock Exchange Forest & Paper Products Index
was lately falling 0.9%, while the
Dow Jones Utility Average
was off 0.98%.
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Bonds/Economy
Bonds have opened weaker today after several days of strength due to strength in the equities markets.
The benchmark 10-year
Treasury note was lately down 6/32 to 99 21/32, yielding 5.795%.
The 30-year
Treasury bond was slipping 11/32 to 105 14/32, yielding 5.860%.
October
retail sales
(
definition |
chart |
source
) showed that the decline in retail activity was far weaker than expected. The headline number showed a 0.1% rise, vs. forecasts of a 0.1% rise and the previous month's 0.9% increase.
The major negative factor was a 1% decline in new car-dealer sales, which account for a quarter of monthly retail business. There was little sign of a general slowdown in demand and the core number, which excludes autos, rose 0.4%, below September's 0.7% rise.
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