January 4, 2002
Shares Gain on Profit Outlook Despite Economic Data
By MICHAEL BRICK
nytimes.com
Technology stocks made strong gains yesterday, with the Nasdaq composite index rising more than 3 percent, as hopes for a quick recovery in profits grew despite mixed reports on the economy.
"The market is entering '02 with fresh legs," said David Sowerby, chief market analyst at Loomis, Sayles & Company. "It's an economic and cyclical rally."
Analysts coaxed investors into the market, with some suggesting that corporate technology spending may rise this year and some picking the potential beneficiaries.
The gains were strong in sectors of the market that have fallen the most the last year, and stronger still in subsectors that are sensitive to shifts in the overall economy. Computer parts suppliers, typically expected to perform well early in an upward economic cycle, had the best gains.
To some extent, investors have been betting on that recovery in the same time, the first half of 2002, since Sept. 21, when the market bottomed after the terrorist attacks. Since then, technology shares have gained more than 43 percent. |
