Trading began on Wednesday with an early drop in the major market indexes as investors looked for the recent accounting scandals to work their way through the markets. The intra-day roller coaster effect on trading reemerged following the recent sharp drop in stock prices in light of the WorldCom disaster and rumors of more wide-scale accounting abuses.
A second earnings warning from Advanced Micro Devices put a chill in early tech trading, further evidencing to the markets that consumer spending on computers will not increase in the traditionally strong summer and back-to-school seasons.
Wednesday Afternoon Activity
In later afternoon trading the tech sector lead the broader markets into positive territory on the day as Oracle Systems powered higher by more than ten percent, moving the stock up from the range of its 52-week low. On Tuesday the NASDAQ Composite Index closed below 1,400, signaling to investors that the tech-heavy index was oversold and bargain hunters emerged late Wednesday, following the AMD warning, to move tech stocks higher. By late in the day the markets took on a more optimistic view of the economy and prospects for longer-term growth. Investor confidence that the bad news from AMD, Apple, Intel and other tech companies is already factored into low stock prices helped to push prices up.
WorldCom, the embattled telecom giant, jumped over one hundred percent in value with more than one billion shares trading hands, as short covering and aggressive speculative buying following Tuesdayis positive comments by the companyis CEO put the shares in high demand.
Wednesday Market Close
At the close of trading on Wednesday the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 9,054.97, up 47.22. The S&P 500 moved up 5.91 to finish at 953.99. The NASDAQ Composite Index advanced 22.35 to end the day at 1,380.17. Apple
closed up $.61 at $17.55 on below-average volume.
Apple
Apple has announced the opening of an Apple retail store in Manhattan, to coincide with events at the MACWORLD New York Expo scheduled for later this month. The store, to be located in the fashionable SoHo district, extends Appleis retail presence into one of the nationis most desirable and hip retail locations.
In a late-day report filed on Cnet NEWS.com, Apple has submitted its OS X operating system for independent security testing with the goal of winning government business. The tests will verify OS Xis built-in security features. Computer security is a top priority of government departments and agencies.
Check out the new and vastly improved Apple Finance Boards, a moderated forum for Apple Investors and people who are interested in Appleis financial dealings!
For full quotes on all the companies mentioned in this article, we have assembled a set of stock quotes at Yahoo! for your reference. For other stories regarding Appleis stock activity, visit our updated Apple Stock Watch Special Report.