(By Harry Boxer) The stock market indices had a narrowly mixed session at the close, but came way off of early weakness that actually broke short-term support on the S&P 500, but did not get confirmation on the Nasdaq 100. The NDX had a very strong day from Apple Inc. (AAPL), which jumped 17.04 to 665.15, the high for the day, and an all-time new high. Apple is one of the reasons why the NDX snapped back today, and it led the indices back from an early decline.
The day started out with Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 opening with some volatility. They dropped lower, with the NDX dropping down to the 2767-8 area, and the S&P 500 to 1412. They then ran sharply to the highs for the day, with the NDX just under 2785, a jump of about 18 points. The S&P 500 ran back up to the 1417 area. Both indices pulled back when the S&P 500 did not make a new high. After a few corrective falling-type wedges, in a 3-wave ascent, they moved back up to test the highs for the day, and closed right near there.
Net on the day, the Dow was down 3.56 at 13,271.64, about 41 points off its low and 5 points off the high. The S&P 500 was down just .03 at 1418.13, 6 points off its low and right at the high for the day. The Nasdaq 100 was up 4.03 at 2784.33, just pennies off the high and 17 points off its low.
Advance-declines were 16 to 13 negative on New York Stock Exchange, and about 7 to 5 negative on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was just slightly negative on New York, with total volume of a very light 533 million shares. Nasdaq traded 1.33 billion, and had an 8 to 5 negative plurality.
TheTechTrader.com board was mostly lower, but there were some outstanding stocks today, just as Apple over 17 today.
Strong percentage gainers, included some of the biotech stocks we follow. Rosetta Genomics, Ltd. (ROSG) gained 93 cents to 4.91, or 23%, on 4.2 million shares. Repros Therapeutics Inc. (RPRX) advanced 1.45 to 10.98, or 15%, on nearly a million shares. Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd (QIHU) jumped 1.67 to 20.21, or 9%, on 3.8 million shares. Nanosphere, Inc. (NSPH) spiked 26 cents to 3.60, or 8%, on 2 million shares. REEDS, Inc. (REED) closed up 46 cents to 6.24, or 8%.
Diamond Foods, Inc. (DMND) jumped 1.40 to 19.75, Velti Plc (VELT) up 54 cents to 7.72, Homeowners Choice, Inc. (HCII) continues its very strong move this year, up 1.36 to 21.96, Inergy, L.P. (NRGY) 1.15 to 20.86, and Granite Construction Incorporated (GVA) 1.39 to 28.07.
Facebook, Inc. (FB) gained 96 cents to 20.01, First Solar, Inc. (FSLR), up another 1.20 to 22.46, Stratasys Inc. (SSYS) exploded 3.44 to 71.98, Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) 1.43 to 42.86, and Goldman Sachs (GS) 1.68 to 105.28.
United Continental Holdings, Inc. (UAL) jumped 1.05 to 19.45 and US Airways Group, Inc. (LCC) 51 cents to 10.59, both in a strong airline group.
On the downside, there were quite a few point-plus losers today. Google Inc. (GOOG), down 1.60 to 675.54, Pharmacyclics Inc. (PCYC) down 1.83 to 61.06, SolarWinds, Inc. (SWI) 1.33 to 55.28, VIVUS Inc. (VVUS) 1.05 to 20.76, and Cobalt International Energy, Inc. (CIE) 1.12 to 22.78.
The ProShares UltraShort Silver (ZSL) lost 3.40 to 59.99.
Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices came down in the morning, rallied sharply until midday, and then backed off early afternoon, only to come on again in the afternoon to close at the session highs for the day.
It was a pretty good day for the indices despite some profit-taking. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.
Good Trading!
Harry