IBM stock took a 4% hit Tuesday on news of an SEC accounting investigation, but the rest of the market responded with a collective yawn.
The SEC investigation into IBM’s revenue recognition practices in 2000 and 2001 is targeted at only about 1% of the company’s revenues, Goldman Sachs estimated. But IBM could face risk if the investigation begins to broaden.
Surprisingly, the broader market posted modest gains despite the news of accounting troubles at the ninth biggest U.S. company by market capitalization.
The Nasdaq rose 12 to 1603, the S&P 500 climbed 4 to 971, and the Dow gained 25 to 8922. Volume declined to 1.42 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.1 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 17-14 on the NYSE, and 16-15 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 48% on the NYSE, and 66% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 343-2 on the NYSE, and 156-7 on the Nasdaq.
After the close, Comverse beat estimates and Altera
raised guidance.
During the day, VeriSign surged 6.8% on a deal with Microsoft
.
Brocade soared 20% on a Merrill Lynch upgrade.
Sun slipped 1% after slashing server prices.
ValueClick gained 1.6% on an acquisition.
AT&T slipped 1.5% on wireless spending plans.
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