Allen, I love event driven stocks like Cla. The real skill in life is to get in just before the momentum investors. Momentum stocks are the very best to hand off to the greater fool.
>NEW YORK, June 5 (Reuters) - U.S. biotechnology shares extended last week's gains on Monday amid optimism about the research and marketing outlooks for leading companies and renewed enthusiasm for the battered technology sector in general, analysts said.
"Most of the runup is ... investors coming back to the high growth technology sector," said biotechnology analyst Eric Schmidt of SG Cowen Securities.
The Nasdaq biotechnology index <.IXB>, made up of more than 200 U.S. and European companies, rose about 2.81 percent, making it a standout sector in a lackluster session.
By contrast, the Nasdaq composite index rose 0.22 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.19 percent.
Computer and Internet stocks, along with biotechnology issues, staged a powerful rally last week with the release of employment data that showed the economy may be cooling. That gave investors good reason to hope the Federal Reserve will hold off on further increases in interest rates, which could give the tech sector room to recover from the battering it suffered in recent months.
On Monday, biotech stocks added to last week's gain and by the close stood about 20 percent higher than at the beginning of January. Still, that is a far cry from March when the sector was up 80 percent on the year.
The rebound also reflected optimism about the research efforts of key players. In particular, investors anticipate that Celera Genomics <CRA.N> will announce this month that it completed a bare-bones outline of the chemical order of the human genome -- the genes that make and regulate the human body, several analysts said.
"These are event-driven stocks and that's a major event, said analyst Scott Greenstone of Thomas Weisel Partners LLC, referring to the human genome milestone.
With a complete sequencing of the human genome, drug makers aim to identify genes linked to diseases and develop medicines to thwart them.
On Monday, Celera shares rose more than 27 percent, or 18-1/4, to close at 87-1/4, making it one of top percentage gainers on the New York Stock Exchange.
Genentech Inc.<DNA.N> shares jumped after the company said late Friday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its new blood clot-buster, TNKase, also known as Tenecteplase. The product treats heart-attack victims more quickly than any other drug of its kind, the company said, including its older drug, Activase.
That news was coupled with Genentech's announcement on Monday that it would seek regulatory clearance to sell a promising asthma drug.
Shares of South San Francisco, Calif.-based Genentech rose about 18-1/2, or 17 percent, to finish at 128-1/8.
Other gainers among biotech companies and firms conducting research in the area of genomics included Affymetrix Inc. <AFFX.O>, which climbed 22-7/16, or about 16 percent, to 164-11/16; and Aurora Biosciences Corp. <ABSC.O>, which rose about 9-1/16, or 17 percent, to 61.
((David Brinkerhoff, New York Health Desk, 212-859-1870, david.brinkerhoff@reuters.com))
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