Here is a summary article from MKW for today activities.
cbs.marketwatch.com;
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- The latest round of monthly semiconductor sector data indicating strong demand failed to lift shares Thursday. Hardware stocks also slipped with storage stocks leading to the downside.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ($SOX: news, chart, profile) gave up 4.4 percent and the Goldman Sachs Hardware Index ($GHA: news, chart, profile) fell 3 percent.
The chip index has been mired at a two-month low for the last week. The hardware index has been at a six-month low during the last several days.
The morning's batch of U.S. economic data signaled that conditions in the labor market continue to be challenging.
Market watchers will get a further glimpse of the situation with the release of the April employment report on Friday.
Chips
The Semiconductor Industry Association said that March chip revenue dropped 20 percent but that this was the best year-over-year comparison since in 12 months.
March sales were up 6 percent over the quarter on gains in DRAM and programmable-logic-device components. Sequentially, sales rose 7.2 percent with the highest month-over-month gain since 1986.
Salomon Smith Barney analysts noted that the month-over-month increases in March semiconductor shipments marked the first time in six months that all regions posted a gain.
Elsewhere, Micron Technology (MU: news, chart, profile) said it's walking away, after tortuous negotiations, from an alliance with South Korea's financially troubled Hynix Semiconductor.
Shares of Idaho-based Micron fell 5.4 percent to $23.36 -- a six-month low. The collapse of the deal, and a creeping retreat in memory-chip prices, has caused concern about the near-term health of the memory market. See London Calling.
Chip stocks had dropped Wednesday morning but rallied into the closing bell before resuming a downward trajectory today.
Equipment stocks led to the downside: Applied Materials (AMAT: news, chart, profile) shed 6.3 percent, Teradyne (TER: news, chart, profile) lost 5.2 percent, and Novellus Systems (NVLS: news, chart, profile) dropped 4.3 percent.
Major chipmakers were not spared, however. National Semiconductor (NSM: news, chart, profile) fell 4.4 percent, Texas Instruments (TXN: news, chart, profile) dropped 4.5 percent and Intel (INTC: news, chart, profile) lost 2.7 percent. |
