PC stocks bounced back after IDC said, "unit volume for the worldwide PC market should climb to 33.4 million in the third quarter, a 18.5 percent jump from the year-ago period, " according to a CBS MarketWatch article. IDCis Bruce Stephen was quoted as saying, "The consumer market will once again propel global PC growth this quarter."
IDCis report contradicts USB Piper Jaffrayis bleak prediction that PC sales might be only half as strong as expected in the second half of 2000, at around 6% annual growth, Piper Jaffrayis report instigated a PC and semiconductor stock sell off earlier this week.
Meanwhile, a CNET article reports that Morgan Stanley Dean Witter analyst Gillian Munson wrote in a research note: "There is no new data to support either the bullish or bearish case. This market sentiment is very typical for this time of year."
Yesterday, Bear Stearns checked into personal computer demand and claimed that Apple, Dell, Compaq and Gateway continue to meet "normal seasonal trends", while a ZD Net article notes anecdotal evidence of the G4 Cube selling well at retailers.
Appleis stock soared 3 9/16 to close at 62 dollars on low volume of 3.8 million shares. AAPL didnit fall as far as other PC stocks during this weekis sell off and today it soared 6.10% outperforming the other PC manufacturers by far.
A CNET News article reported, "The PC giants are locked in a bitter competition to be the first Windows-based PC maker to offer wireless networking built into notebooks. Thatis a feature Apple Computer has offered for more than a year on Mac notebooks, however, and for much less money than what either Dell or IBM will charge."
The Nasdaq rebound 84 points (2.10%) to close near the dayis high at 4097 on volume of 1.6 billion shares. The PC stocks, semiconductor, and biotechs led the index higher.
The Dow fell 50 points (-0.45%) to close at 11259 on volume of 978 million shares.
It was a mixed day on the Dow. Crude oil prices continue to hit new highs at $35.39 per barrel. DuPont (DD) let loose another profit warning based on the high cost of fuel and concerns that the weak Euro is hurting European sales. JP Morgan (JPM) sold off, after a nice run up on merger rumors pushed it to new highs earlier this week.
The S&P 500 climbed 10.23 points (-0.69%) to close at 1502.48.
In Apple related businesses: Adobeis stock rocketed higher by 9 7/16 to 136 15/16, perhaps infected with e-book mania. Earthlink fell 7/8 to 11 3/4. Motorola gained 1/2 to 35 3/16.
IBM climbed 2 1/2 to 133 15/16. IBM is phasing out the Aptiva line this year and now only sells the systems through its Web site. According to Bloomberg this means that Acer Group, Taiwanis largest computer maker, will $643 million in sales this year because IBM canceled its contract with Acer to manufacturer desktop computers. Aceris stock, listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, has lost 51% so far this year.
Akamai climbed 7/8 to 70 dollars. Every day Akamai signs another company to its Internet content streaming service, so we donit mention them all. But today, Akamai announced that The MTVi Group has selected Akamai as its streaming delivery provider for live coverage of the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards on MTV.com scheduled for this evening at 8 p.m. EDT.
Appleis competitors: Gateway was higher by 2.60 to 64.80. Compaq gained 1 1/2 to 32 7/8. Shares of Microsoft rose 1/2 to 69 15/16. Intel bounced 1 5/8 to 67 7/16.
Dell gained 11/16 to 40 3/16. SG Cowen defended Dell after they checked with Dellis management and believe the PC vendor is on track to meet estimates, although European and government sales are "sluggish." SG Cowen pointed out that weakening DRAM prices could be a positive.
Hewlett Packard climbed 3 7/8 to 123 7/8. The company unveiled the HP Jornada 720 Handheld PC, the follow-on product to the HP Jornada 600 series.
For full quotes on all the companies mentioned in this article, we have assembled this set of quotes at Yahoo! for your reference. For other stories regarding Appleis stock activity, visit our Apple Stock Watch Special Report.