Stocks appeared ready to end their sixth consecutive down week on a plus note on Friday, with triple-digit gains on the Dow and Nasdaq. Net stocks rose despite a disappointing outlook from DoubleClick.
The ISDEX gained 24 to 619, and the Nasdaq rose 146 to 3220. The S&P 500 climbed 31 to 1361, and the Dow added 145 to 10,179. Volume declined 560 million shares on the NYSE and 905 million on the Nasdaq. Decliners led by 13 to 12 on the NYSE, but advancers led 19 to 16 on the Nasdaq. The Producer Price Index for September came in much stronger than expected, at a 0.9% gain and a 0.3% rise in the core rate, but traders shook off the bad news. For earnings reports, visit our earnings calendar and reported earnings. For after hours quotes and news, visit our after hours trading site.
DoubleClick dropped 6 3/8 to 11 3/4. The company’s first profitable quarter matched estimates of three cents, but revenues came in a little light, and the company guided forward estimates lower. Merrill Lynch analyst Henry Blodget cut his 2001 estimates to a range of 10-20 cents from 37 cents a share. He said he believes the company will be one a long-term survivor, but that he expects the next two quarters to be tough.
MyPoints.com plummeted 2 1/2 to 2 3/8 on an earnings warning. The company will lay off 120 employees, almost 30% of its workforce.
Juniper Networks , up 16 3/8 to 216, beat estimates with earnings of 17 cents a share, almost double estimates.
Juniper sparked a rally in Internet infrastructure plays. Corning rose 3 7/16 to 89 7/16. Bellwether Cisco
recovered 3 13/16 to 53 5/8 a day after closing below the important $50 level. Redback Networks
bolted 16 5/16 to 119, and Sycamore
added 3 1/16 to 80 1/16.
RSA Security rose 1 11/16 to 51 7/16 after reporting earnings of 24 cents a share, a penny above estimates.
WebMD dropped 1 3/32 to 7 13/32 on several analyst downgrades after a disappointing analyst meeting.
RedHat rose 2 15/16 to 14 1/4 on positive comments from W.R. Hambrecht, which said the company is a key element of the future technology landscape and a compelling value. The firm set a $30 price target.
C-bridge Internet tacked on 3/8 to 13 1/8 after reporting earnings in line with estimates at a penny a share.
B2B leaders were strong. Ariba rose 9 3/16 to 119 9/16, Commerce One
surged 4 7/8 to 59 3/8, and i2
gained 13 17/32 to 174 15/16.
Inktomi regained 3 15/16 to 79 1/16. If the company’s breakdown out of a descending triangle was for real, it should have a hard time getting back above $90, and could still have significant downside ahead.
Some technical comments on the market: Note: We are now including charts with the technical market commentary; just click on the links in the story below to go to them. If you have trouble accessing the charts via the e-mail newsletter version, try this link: http://www.afterhourstrading.com/column.html
The market appears to be in rally mode. The Nasdaq pierced the support line along its 1999 peak yesterday but recovered nicely. Also, the index broke out of a falling wedge at about 3175 this morning, indicating that a bottom could be in place. Based on the size of that wedge,
this rally could have room to 3800. We’ll watch key levels along the way. Major resistance could be 3500, the September downtrend line and the August 3521 bottom.
The S&P 500 recovered nicely back above its 1994 logarithmic trendline at about 1350, a very important level. The index found support yesterday at 1325, its Februrary bottom. To the upside, next resistance is 1380.
The ISDEX also recovered nicely. Its major resistance is likely to be around 650, near its downtrend line and broken support. The Dow faces resistance at 10,200, 10,400, and then 10,500, its downtrend line.
