A strong day for the stock market ended on a weak note after the Nasdaq had to extend trading by an hour because of technical glitches. The indexes drifted south during that final hour.
The ISDEX http://www.wsrn.com/apps/ISDEX/ rose 7 to 245, and the Nasdaq added 35 to 2161. The S&P 500 lost 2 to 1224, and the Dow fell 63 to 10,501. Volume was unchanged at 1.31 billion shares on the NYSE, but declined to 1.74 billion because of trading problems on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 19 to 11 on the NYSE, and 23 to 13 on the Nasdaq. For earnings reports, visit our earnings calendar at http://www.wsrn.com/apps/earnings/internet.xpl and reported earnings at http://www.wsrn.com/apps/earnings/ireported.xpl. For after hours quotes and news, visit our after hours trading site at http://www.afterhourstrading.com.
Traders were encouraged by more strong economic data. The Chicago PMI and the University of Michigan sentiment survey both came in stronger than expected.
PMC-Sierra rose 2.10 to 31.25 after issuing an earnings warning, the latest communications chip company to rise on a “better than expected warning.”
Microsoft slipped .24 to 72.50 as traders digested the appellate court ruling that overturned a lower court’s order to break up the software giant. European antitrust officials said they may continue to pursue Microsoft.
Cisco gave back strong gains to finish down .08 to 18.50. The company made comments at a European conference that indicated that the inventory correction might be nearing completion.
Newport rose 1.50 to 26 on a UBS Warburg upgrade.
Commerce One soared 1.74 to 6 despite an earnings warning. The reason? A $225 million investment from SAP
.
Agere surged 1.31 to 7.30 after preannouncing in-line results.
Next-generation service provider 360networks was halted at .21 a share after filing for bankruptcy protection.
Some technical comments on the market: Note: We include charts in the technical market commentary. If you can’t get the charts via the e-mail newsletter version, try this link: http://www.afterhourstrading.com/column.html
A bizarre end to a strange trading day, and hopefully one the Nasdaq won’t repeat anytime soon. One positive was called into question by the light volume and trading glitches: the Nasdaq 100 closed above its September downtrend line on a weekly basis for the first time (first chart). The index ran into resistance at its June downtrend line, however (second chart), and closed just under that line. The Nasdaq (third chart) cleared the neckline of a head and shoulders top, a plus. Next resistance is 2200, the June downtrend line. The S&P 100 (fourth chart) cleared a downtrend line during the day, only to get rejected at its head and shoulders neckline and close back below both levels. Not pretty. 642 is key resistance on the S&P 100, and 623 is critical support. The S&P 500 (fifth chart) was rejected at its June downtrend line, making the whole 1240-1260 level key resistance. 1200 is key support. The Dow (fifth chart) still can’t take out the most basic resistance.
Special report: For a free introduction to technical chart patterns and an overview of last year’s action in the stock market, visit http://www.internetstockreport.com/guest/article/0,1785,2571_500051,00.html.
