13:30 ET Dow -31, Nasdaq +22, S&P -0.83: [BRIEFING.COM] Equity market remains mixed, but is on the rebound at the moment as the broader market has drawn some comfort from the tech sector's resilient stand today ahead of Intel's (INTC +1.15) mid-quarter update... Latest surge driven by renewed buying interest in the semiconductor stocks that has taken the SOX Index to new highs for the session... As to be expected, the Nasdaq followed suit and has built on its modest gains... Big-cap tech, and chip shares, remain the focus of today's buyers... Separately, National Semiconductor (NSM +1.82) has surged to new highs for the day... SOX +5.0%... Nasdaq 100 +1.6%... NYSE Adv/Dec 1352/1581... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1709/1800.
13:00 ET Dow -40, Nasdaq +14, S&P -2.59: [BRIEFING.COM] Not much improvement since the last update, but the market is holding its own as the ugly earnings outlook from National Semiconductor (NSM +0.54) for its next quarter has failed to deter investor interest in the semiconductor stocks... Resilient posture of that group is providing support for the broader market, but with the financial, apparel, and tobacco components performing poorly today, the broader market is having some difficulty gaining traction to the upside... The same holds true for the long-bond, which was up earlier in the day, but has had a noticeable reversal of fortune which has been attributed to technical selling and a report of an asset allocation trade out of bonds and into stocks... NYSE Adv/Dec 1329/1584... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1679/1806.
12:30 ET Dow -32, Nasdaq +12, S&P -2.14: [BRIEFING.COM] Retrenchment in the major indices continues as buyers have been a reluctant bunch in the past hour or so... It is arguable, though, that they have been reluctant from the start of trading given today's relatively light volume and the modestly negative A/D line at the NYSE and Nasdaq... S&P strength today is concentrated largely in the semiconductor, railroad, footwear and homebuilding industry groups... Worth noting that National Semiconductor (NSM +1.03) posted its fiscal Q4 results a short time ago, reporting results of breakeven that were $0.03 ahead of the consensus estimate; however, NSM warned of a Q1 loss of $0.30-0.35 (current consensus estimate is a loss of $0.03) and that sales would be down 15-20% sequentially... In typical fashion of late, investors have not been deterred by the lackluster guidance, and instead, are focussing on NSM's contention that it believes the worst bookings quarter could be behind it... NYSE Adv/Dec 1323/1547... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1649/1793.
12:00 ET Dow -27, Nasdaq +17, S&P -0.79: [BRIEFING.COM] For the most part, the equity market has traded in mixed fashion since the start of trading with buyers focussing their efforts on the technology sector and shying away from blue chip issues... In particular, they are favoring the semiconductor stocks and avoiding the financial, apparel, tobacco, and oil service shares... Weakness in the latter groups, which have an influential weighting in the S&P 500, has acted as a restraint on the broader market... Nonetheless, it hasn't been much of a restraint on the semiconductor shares which are rallying ahead of Intel's (INTC +0.77) mid-quarter update, helped by a number of supportive factors that includes the following: the Semiconductor Industry Association increasing its 2002 sales forecast to 20.5% from 10%; Broadcom (BRCM +2.89) indicating on its conference call (held to discuss Q2 warning) that it is seeing some signs of new orders which it believed would lead to renewed growth late in the year; Advanced Micro Devices (AMD +1.80) reiterating its revenue projection and providing reassuring comments on the PC demand outlook; and Banc of America Securities saying its motherboard checks at Computex in Taiwan suggested an incrementally positive outlook for Sept. qtr... Still, with Intel's report looming, there remains a sense of cautiousness in the broader market... Part of that caution is being driven by earnings concerns surrounding the bank, brokerage, and retail sectors... The latter has been a lowlight since the opening bell as a number of retailers, including Pacific Sunwear (PSUN -1.57), Gap (GPS -1.08), American Eagle Outfitters (AEOS -0.52) and Federated (FD -1.49) posted some rather disappointing same-store sales results... J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM -2.22) has been the notable laggard in the financial group after Morgan Stanley cut its FY01 and FY02 EPS estimates... Philip Morris (MO -2.59), however, is the Dow's worst performing component as investors are reacting poorly to the news that a Los Angeles jury ordered the company to pay more than $3 billion in punitive damages, and $5.5 million in compensatory damages, to a 56-year-old cancer patient who accused MO of fraud, conspiracy and negligence... As to be expected, that verdict is taking a toll on industry peers like RJR, UST, BTI and LTR... Separately, it is worth noting that the long awaited $1.35 tln tax cut bill is now official as President Bush signed it in to law this morning.... SOX +4.0%... Nasdaq 100 +1.3%... NYSE Adv/Dec 1305/1515... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1651/1716.
11:30 ET Dow -17, Nasdaq +17, S&P +0.46: [BRIEFING.COM] Little change in the overall action as the market's upside trek has been held in check by blue chip weakness... Bank stocks among the more notable laggards with J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM -2.04) remaining under pressure amid earnings concerns... Today, Morgan Stanley cut its FY01 EPS estimate on the Dow component to $3.00 from $3.15 and its FY02 EPS estimate to $3.85 from $3.90... Brokerage stocks also on the defensive due to similar earnings concerns, which are emanating from the lack of M&A activity and a fairly quiet IPO market... Yesterday, Briefing.com upgraded the Brokerage Sector... For more detail, be sure to visit our Sector Ratings page... Chip shares continue to lead the Nasdaq, but have pulled back a bit from their best levels... SOX +4.0%... NYSE Adv/Dec 1305/1485... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1651/1608.
11:00 ET Dow +3, Nasdaq +22, S&P +3.09: [BRIEFING.COM] Indices posting modest gains, yet the participation in the advance has been narrow in scope... Most of the buying interest has been focussed on the tech sector; meanwhile, the blue chips are lagging behind, weighed down by a weak showing from the financial, apparel, and oil service issues... With respect to the tech sector, the chip, chip equipment, and software components are pacing the action... Philip Morris (MO -2.71) feeling the heat after losing a $3 bln jury verdict... As to be expected, industry peers like R.J. Reynolds (RJR -2.56), UST, Inc. (UST -1.09), British American Tobacco (BTI -0.49) and Loews (LTR -2.99) are trading lower in sympathy as the verdict has reignited concerns surrounding the negative impact of tobacco litigation, which had diminished in the wake of the rotation into the defensive-oriented tobacco group as the tech sector cratered, the tobacco companies' previous success in the courtroom, and the Republican victory in the Presidential Election... NYSE Adv/Dec 1312/1372... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1641/1481. |
