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Tech gains help US stocks end two-day slump
NEW YORK, Nov 22, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Strong gains by some tech giants helped
US stocks mostly rise Wednesday after a two-day rout left the Dow and S&P 500
in the red for 2018.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was the biggest mover, jumping 0.9
percent to 6,972.25, thanks to gains by beaten-down giants like Amazon and
Facebook.
But the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished essentially flat at
24,464.69 after fading badly in the last hour of trading. The broad-based S&P
added 0.3 percent at 2,649.93, ending well below its session peak.
Tom Cahill of Ventura Wealth Management said tech companies had already
began to turn on Tuesday.
“The move continued on Wednesday,” he said. “It shows that some portfolio
managers are looking for bargains.”
Even with Wednesday’s better performance, major US indices were still off
significantly for the week following back-to-back routs that were attributed
to worries about the US-China trade war and higher Federal Reserve interest
rates.
Among data releases on Wednesday, orders for US durable goods fell an
unexpectedly big 4.4 percent to $248.5 billion, according to government data.
But data from the National Association of Realtors showed a rise in
existing home sales in October for the first time since March.
Among individual stocks, Dow member Johnson & Johnson dropped 3.1 percent
after a US appeals court refused to block sales of a generic version of its
prostate cancer drug Zytiga.
Agricultural equipment manufacturer Deere & Co rose 2.4 percent after
reporting fourth-quarter earnings of $2.42 per share, a bit below analyst
expectations. Analysts said the results were better than feared in light of
higher costs of steel and other raw materials.
BSS/AFP/HR/0938