Internet Stocks Edge Up As Nasdaq Slips

As expected, stocks mostly tread water Monday as investors focused on Tuesday’s release of the Consumer Confidence Index for March.

Internet stocks fared well, as internet.com’s Internet Stock Index, or ISDEX, rose 1.57% to 222.31. The Dow Jones gained 182.75 to 9687.53, a 1.92% increase, while the Nasdaq slipped 10.19 to 1918.49, a loss of 0.53%. The S&P 500 advanced 12.87, or 1.13%, to 1152.69.

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Internet sectors were split right down the middle, with six groups showing more advancers than decliners and six others hosting mostly losers. E-commerce Enablers, with 22 up and 22 down, was evenly divided. For all
sector breakdowns, visit WSRN’s Internet sectors page.

Networking infrastructure giant Cisco Systems continues to set new 52-week closing lows, finishing trading at $17.88, a loss of 4.35%. CSCO last ended below $18 on Nov. 17, 1998. On Monday, UBS Warburg cut its price target for Cisco to $24 from $25 and lowered earnings estimates for 2001 to 49 cents per share from 57 cents per share. Warburg maintained its “buy rating, however.

WebEx Communications , a maker of Internet-based interactive meeting software, rode an analyst’s vote of confidence on Friday to an 18.0% gain, closing at $6.94. Wit SoundView analyst John Cregan reiterated a “strong buy” rating for WEBX.

Online data storage firm OTG Software benefited from Friday’s acquisition of Smart Storage, a vendor of storage software for CD/DVD media. OTGS shares climbed 15.8% to $6.88.

Here’s some technical analysis from Paul Shread:

March 26, 4 p.m.: The S&P 500 added to its gains after getting back above important 1130 resistance on Friday (first chart). Next resistance level is 1155, then 1160, 1171 and 1191-1198. The index needs to get back above 1214 to signal a directional change. Support should be found in the 1117-1130 range. But the Nasdaq 100 ran straight into major resistance at 1736 (second chart) for the second straight day. That line will be at about 1718 tomorrow, and a move above that level would signal a major breakout for tech stocks. 1650-1670 should be first support on the Nasdaq 100, and critical support is about 1550, that lower falling wedge trendline. The Dow broke its two-week downtrend today (third chart), but faces a lot of resistance between
9732-9860 (fourth chart). First support is 9650, then 9500, and then the 9150-9350 range.