Dow kept modest gains, Nas negative.. -4

Riz

Experienced member
Messages
1,266
Likes
6
Cookie used to do this very nicely..I can only quote from CBS Market Watch I am afraid..

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Sellers chipped away at Internet and chip stocks, pushing the Nasdaq into the minus column Tuesday, while the Dow Industrials managed a slim advance as buyers nibbled on defensive areas of the market.

The Nasdaq closed at its lowest level since October 27.
"The stock market is focusing on the economy and earnings and the picture is getting gloomier and gloomier," remarked Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer at First Albany. "The market is signaling that you now have to take the possibility of a hard landing seriously."

So-called safe-haven sectors again captured the best buying interest, with consumer, gold, drug and healthcare issues leading on the upside. And biotech stocks saw a modest recovery following Monday's rout while retail, brokerage and utility issues slipped.

The Dow Jones Industrials Average ($DJ: news, msgs) gained 31.85 points, or 0.3 percent, to 10,494.50. The blue-chip barometer's frontrunners included Boeing, Caterpillar, Intel, Philip Morris and Exxon Mobil.

The Nasdaq Composite ($COMPQ: news, msgs) lost 4.19 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,871.45 while the Nasdaq 100 Index shed 5.88 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,786.53.

"The techs won't rally until the market is done beating up the large-cap darlings," observed John Zaro, managing member at Bourgeon Capital Management.

"The entire tech group is being re-evaluated. The multiples are changing as year-over-year revenue growth slows," Zaro continued. "Any whiff of caution among these high-beta companies sends investors running for the hills. The slowing economy has become a bigger and bigger issue for the market."

Limiting further losses in the Nasdaq were respectable gains in the index's big-cap leaders: Intel put on 3.6 percent, Cisco Systems gained 4.8 percent, Sun Micro jumped 4.3 percent, JDS Uniphase added 2.8 percent and Qualcomm jumped 3.4 percent.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($SPX: news, msgs) rose 0.4 percent while the Russell 2000 Index ($RUT: news, msgs) of small-capitalization stocks declined 0.7 percent.

Volume checked in at 1.12 billion on the NYSE and at 1.74 billion on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Market breadth was negative, with decliners outnumbering advancers by 15 to 14 on the NYSE and by 25 to 14 on the Nasdaq.

The election stalemate continued as markets awaited the decision of the Florida Supreme Court on whether the latest manual tallies should be the deciding factor in who's elected president.

"There is a good chance the election mess in Florida will not be over by Thanksgiving. The odds of an explosive rally once election uncertainty settles down are very high and rising [but] we are concerned about what sort of follow-through any rally would have," commented William Rhodes of The Williams Capital Group.

Zaro said he believes a post-election rally would be viewed as just another opportunity to lighten up on shares.

For Rhodes, equities currently face five problems: a narrowing market, with fewer stocks rising from day to day; a declining price-to-earnings ratio for the S&P 500 with investors now paying less for earnings growth; decelerating earnings growth; decelerating revenues; and cost-cutting, which could be the theme to 2001.
 
Top