Close DJIA +23.17 at 8834.94, Nasdaq -4.66 at 1745.09, S&P +4.26 at 1098.84: Economic troubles in Asia, namely Japan, were the catalyst behind both an early selloff and a late rally... On the heels of yesterday's rout, investors picked up where they left off, driving stock prices sharply lower throughout the morning amid persistent earnings concerns... Fearing more bad news out of Asia over the weekend, longs liquidated positions and did so in concerted fashion... At their lows, the Dow was -127, the Nasdaq -32, and the S&P -14... However, a key reversal was made late in the day on a short-covering rally as traders held out hope that Asia just might deliver some good news over the weekend... Should this hope go unfulfilled, we wouldn't be surprised to see another downturn come Monday given that market internals remained very unimpressive... In the broader market, oil and drug stocks piloted the turnaround; whereas the software makers helped lead the recovery in the tech sector... Chevron (CHV +3 5/16), Exxon (XON +1 1/4), United Technologies (UTX +2 1/16), GE (+1 1/16), and Coke (KO +1) were the standouts in the Dow... DJTA -21.16... DJUA -0.37... SOX -2.57... XOI +7.02.
(briefing.com) |
