Novellus became the latest good sign for the chip equipment sector after the close on Wednesday.
Novellus raised first quarter booking guidance to $330-340 million, above previous guidance of $305-315 million, and the company raised revenue guidance too. Novellus said it’s seeing a steady improvement in business, a welcome sign for a sector that largely lagged the broader tech recovery until recently.
The broader market rose Wednesday on positive comments on the economy from Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, while shaking off weaker than expected home sales.
The Nasdaq rebounded 17 to 2022, the S&P 500 climbed 4 to 1143, and the Dow gained 35 to 10,601. Volume declined to 1.35 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.71 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 21-10 on the NYSE, and 20-11 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 71% on the NYSE, and 70% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 130-6 on the NYSE, and 103-9 on the Nasdaq.
AT&T rose 1.5% as the company put on a brave face at its annual analyst meeting.
Microsoft slipped on cautious comments by CFO John Connors, who also said the company will have a better idea of what to do with its huge cash hoard by its annual analyst meeting in July.
Roxio gained 8% on a New York Post report that Microsoft is favoring Napster over Apple’s
iTunes.
Lucent and Cisco
climbed 2% each on a joint VoIP offering.
Semtech and Portal Software
gained after beating estimates.
Rambus rose 7% after a favorable FTC ruling was made official.
Market Commentary: For our free daily market commentary and technical analysis, please visit the InternetStockReport.com home page at:
http://www.InternetStockReport.com.
