PortfolioCrafter - Market Commentary 10/28/05
October 29th, 2005 / 2:27 am / by portfoliocrafter
After three sessions of downslide, stocks today rallied back at the end of a tough week. Investors cheered a report showing the economy flourished in the third quarter despite two massive hurricanes, surging energy prices, and a probe of White House officials that resulted in only one indictment leaving the most senior staff members untouched.
Today, the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 172.82 or 1.7% to 10,402.77, the broader Standard & Poor 500 finished up 19.51 or 1.7% to 1,198.41, and the Nasdaq composite index closed up 26.07 or 1.3% to 2,089.88. For the week, the rises were 1.8% for the Dow Jones Industrials, 0.4% for the Nasdaq Composite and 1.6% for the S&P 500.
The market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners topped losers by 23 to 8 as 1.74 billion shares changed hands. On the Nasdaq, advancers beat decliners 20 to 9 as 1.86 billion shares changed hands. Gains were broad based, with 29 out of 30 Dow stocks gaining.
Amongst other indices, the Philadelphia Semiconductor index closed down 2.77 or 0.7% to 424.87, the Dow Jones Home Construction Index ended $23.59 or 2.9% to $838.49, the Amex Oil index gained 23.84 or 2.5% to 968.98, the Russell 2000 finished up 11.30 or 1.8% to 635.33, the Dow Jones Transportation average closed up 67.49 or 1.8% to 3,741.81.
Gainers on the Dow included Microsoft that gained 2.6% to $25.46 after reporting earnings that topped forecasts. Other gainers included Verizon Communications up $0.94 to $31.70, Hewlett Packard ended up $1.16 to $27.96, Caterpillar ended up $1.17 to $51.07, Boeing soared up $1.59 to $65.64, Home Depot finished up $1.13 to $40.52, and Avon Products finished up $3.08 or over 14% to $27.79, after reporting quarterly earnings that were better than expected. Yellow Roadway also closed up $2.38 or 5.6% to $44.63, after reporting quarterly earnings that r topped forecasts. ChevronTexaco also reported reversed higher third-quarter results and closed up 1.6% at $57.38.
Amongst the losers today were Maxim Integrated Products that closed down $4.36 to $34.60, after reporting quarterly earnings and revenue that fell from a year ago. Bristol-Myers Squibb ended down $0.53 or 2.5% to $21.14, after reporting third-quarter earnings that missed analysts’ estimates. KLA-Tencor closed down 3.8% at $45.43. The company’s earnings and revenue outlooks fell short of expectations and its first-quarter net income dropped 34%.
U.S. light crude oil rose 13 cents to settle at $61.22 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after having swayed on both sides of unchanged throughout the session.
All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter
