Last week, the Nasdaq rocketed to its highest level in nearly a year,
after finishing its sixth-straight session in the black. Investors seem more
prepared to assume additional risk and not miss out on a potential tech rally.
"I just think people are a lot more bullish on a turnaround in the second
half, and in particular, a better 2004," said Mark Donahoe, managing director
of institutional sales trading at U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray, to Reuters News.
Economic data did its part to incite the market, as the gross domestic product
rose 1.9% in the first quarter, albeit somewhat restrained by slow economic
growth and high oil prices. "Corporations are doing better, but they're not
back to where they would like to be," said Mickey Levy, chief economist with
New York's Bank of America Securities, to the Wall Street Journal. The GDP
uptick also prompted chip stocks in particular to charge ahead. Brian Pears,
head of equity trading at Victory Capital Management, told Reuters, "There's
speculation, rightly or wrongly, that there's going to be a turn in
(information technology) spending." One semi that made a significant advance
was Texas Instruments, after a company executive reiterated its second-quarter
sales estimate at a technology sales conference. Software issues benefited
from Prudential Financial initiating coverage of the application and
enterprise software space with a "market perform" rating, sending select
stocks within the group higher. Agile Software also surged after narrowing its
quarterly loss. On the down side, Tech Data took a hit as weak technology
spending impacted its profits. As June takes hold and the start of summer
hopefully begins, investors will not only be monitoring the latest economic
data, but also the freshly approved $350 billion tax-cut plan and its
potential impact on the economy.
High-Tech Monday Update is provided courtesy of Thomson Financial. This
information is believed to be true and accurate; we take no responsibility for
inaccurate information and reserve the right to update our reports. For more
information, please visit our web site at http://www.thomsonfinancial.com.
SOURCE Thomson Financial Corporate Group
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