Nasdaq Hits 3-Month High
Stocks bounced back Thursday with technology shares leading the way, driving the Nasdaq composite index to its highest close since January.
The market appeared to ignore another jump in crude oil prices, as Iran called for major producers to cut output.
Wall Street quickly shook off Wednesday’s blue-chip losses and moved steadily higher as investors wrapped up their week. Markets are closed today in observance of Good Friday.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 80.04 points, or nearly 1%, at 8,337.65 and gained 1.6% for the week.
The session’s star was Nasdaq as it reclaimed its first-quarter momentum, rising for a fourth day: The composite index surged 30.78 points, or 2.2%, to 1,425.50, surpassing its March 21 close of 1,421.84 and reaching the highest finish since Jan. 15.
Nasdaq rose 4.9% for the week and is up 6.7% so far this year. The index had plummeted 31.5% last year.
Investors continued to react bullishly to many tech firms’ earnings. Among the day’s big winners on the heels of first-quarter reports were chip maker Broadcom, up $2.55 to $16.60; software firm SAP, up $1.82 to $25.72; and wireless phone giant Nokia, up $1 to $16.18.
SanDisk rose $4.19 to $21.99. The world’s largest maker of flash memory data storage products returned to profit in the first quarter as sales jumped 88%.
Trading was active on Nasdaq and on the New York Stock Exchange. Winners outnumbered losers by 2 to 1 on Nasdaq and by nearly 3 to 1 on the Big Board.
As investors look for signs that the economy is picking up, some took heart when the Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s April survey of business conditions in that region came in at minus 8.8 -- a better reading than had been expected.
Next week, investors will be watching to see whether other key indexes can break out of their recent trading ranges. That could pull in more money now waiting on the sidelines, analysts said.
The Dow index remains 184 points below its March 21 closing level, which marked the peak for the rally that began ahead of the war in Iraq.
“I think the market has a slight upward bias, because people are relatively positive and believe the economy will turn up,” said Brian Pears, head equity trader at Victory Capital Management. “But without data to back that up, people lack conviction to make major bets.”
There was potential bad news from energy markets: Oil prices moved back above $30 a barrel, ahead of an emergency OPEC meeting next week that is expected to tighten global crude inventories.
Also, natural gas futures rose for a fourth straight day, to the highest level since March 12, after a government report showed that U.S. supplies of the fuel fell to a record low last week.
Crude oil futures in New York rose $1.37 to $30.55 a barrel, the highest price since March 31. The surge followed calls by Iran for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut its official output limits when the cartel meets Thursday.
Iranian officials warned that failure to rein in supply could trigger a price collapse -- a view disputed by many analysts.
Iran has cited the risk to the market of new supplies from Iraq. The U.S. military believes it could get Iraqi oil fields pumping at two-thirds of prewar levels within weeks. But exports would not resume until a political authority is created in Baghdad and United Nations sanctions are lifted or modified.
Iran’s view is the most hawkish aired so far by OPEC members, although Algeria, Indonesia and Qatar also have called for the cartel to lower production.
Among Thursday’s market highlights:
* Most airline shares rallied as American Airlines parent AMR appeared to avert a bankruptcy filing after workers agreed to deep pay cuts. AMR rose 77 cents to $5, Delta soared $1.26 to $11.75, and Continental rose 86 cents to $7.49. But Northwest slipped 5 cents to $7.
* HMO stocks were hot. Southland-based PacifiCare leaped $6.10, or 27%, to $29.11 after boosting its earnings outlook. Wellpoint gained $1.03 to $74.86, and Anthem rose $2.19 to $66.93.
* Many financial stocks continued to advance. Bank of America was up 89 cents to $72.88, Wells Fargo gained 76 cents to $47.50, and Citigroup rose 78 cents to $39.04.
Market Roundup, C6-7
