The stock market indices had a slightly positive session at the end of the day. It was a little bit choppy, especially since the late rollover took back a big chunk of the gains.
The day started out on the downside. The indices sharply moved up, and then pulled back just as sharply, if not more so. They held support, though, and that triggered an all-day session run into the last hour. At midday, the indices pulled back to test support, but once again, rallied into the last hour, with the Nasdaq 100 having rallied from 2850 to 2871, and the S&P 500 having rallied from 1458 to 1465. However, in the last 45 minutes, they rolled over to take back a big chunk of the gains.
Net on the day, the Dow was up 13.32 at 13,577.96, about 50 points off the high. The S&P 500 was up 1.73 at 1461.05, 4 points off the high. The Nasdaq 100 was up 6.65 at 2864.03, 7 points off its high.
Advance-declines were 17 to 12 positive on New York Stock Exchange, and 13 1/2 to 11 negative on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was 3 to 2 positive on New York, with total volume of a light 630 million shares. Nasdaq traded over 1.8 billion shares, and had a 5 to 4 positive volume ratio.
There was definitely a narrowing of technicals by the end of the day as the market rolled over, on the S&P 500 as well.
TheTechTrader.com, as a result, was mostly higher. Leading the way, Google Inc. (GOOG) was up 9.22 to 727.50. Amazon was up 2.93 to 261.68. Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ONXX) gained 2.27 to 85.82.
There were a lot of point-plus gainers on the board today as well.
Biotech stocks did well. Low-priced Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (CYCC) ran up 1.10 to 5.14, or 27%, on a 2500% increase in volume. Low-priced Prana Biotechnology Ltd. (PRAN) was up 38 cents to 2.48, or 18%. Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ACHN) was up 1.29 to 9.39, or 16%, on 8 million shares. Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMPE) advanced 40 cents to 3.40, or 13%, on 1.2 million shares. Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc. (PPHM) gained 48 cents to 4.89, or 11%, on 7.6 million shares.
Other gainers of note included BroadVision, Inc. (BVSN), which we recommended this morning, traded right up to 11.75, and closed at 10.68, up 2.55, or 31.3%, on 2 million shares, which is a 1200% increase over normal volume. Groupon, Inc. (GRPN) was up 65 cents to 5.34, or 14%, on 41 million shares on some positive news. Chiquita Brands International Inc. (CQB) gained 88 cents to 7 was up 88 cents to 7.33, or 13.6%, on 2 million shares.
Smart Balance, Inc (SMBL) was up 93 cents to 12.53, and Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) gained 37 cents to 5.56.
In addition, Facebook, Inc. (FB) jumped 1.42 to 23.29, on 78 million shares, United Rentals, Inc. (URI) up 2.24 to 37.55, Zillow, Inc. (Z) 2.74 to 45.55, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (CBRL) 3.69 to 67.31,
Airlines were up today. Spirit Airlines, Inc. (SAVE) was up 1.08 to 17.19, and US Airways Group, Inc. (LCC) gained 66 cents to 10.97.
On the downside, there were no point-plus losers on our board today. Fractional losers included Cobalt International Energy, Inc. (CIE), down 73 cents to 23.38, Akorn, Inc. (AKRX) lost 90 cents to 13.22.
Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices were down sharply earlier, but rallied into midday, pulled back and then rallied to new highs for the day on the Nasdaq 100 into the last hour, but when the S&P 500 did not confirm, they rolled over hard into the close and gave back a big chunk of the gains. Still, they closed positive on the day, but it was a little disappointing.
Let's see how it goes tomorrow.
Good Trading!
Harry