Monday, September 8, 2003. Some market watchers may believe the tech
sector is overvalued, but they were not around last week when the Nasdaq
finished its seventh-straight session in the black, although a weaker
employment report thwarted further gains. The Nasdaq also reached new 17-month
highs for three consecutive sessions. Upbeat news from tech bellwethers,
coupled with brokerage confidence, served the sector well. "You're seeing
mainly gains in the technology sector and more specifically in the
semiconductor and hardware space," remarked Keith Keenan, vice president of
institutional trading at Wall Street Access, to Reuters News. Out of the chip
space, UBS was bullish on Applied Materials as "expectations of increasingly
better tech news and underlying support from an improving economy" could aid
its order momentum. KLA Tencor and Novellus Systems also benefited from
upgrades. Late out of the earnings gate, National Semiconductor surged on
better-than-expected profits. Perhaps one of the most exciting developments in
the semi space was Intel's third-quarter update, in which it narrowed its
revenue outlook at the high end of its latest forecast. Also, Cisco received a
better rating from Goldman Sachs after the tech titan's chief executive
officer said that orders for the company's computer-networking equipment in
August were "a little bit better than we expected." That brokerage also lifted
its stance on the software group, partly due to improving economic conditions
in the U.S. Meanwhile, PeopleSoft issued encouraging news that its acquisition
of J.D. Edwards would create larger cost savings than it had originally
forecast. Goldman also reached out to the enterprise hardware industry by
raising Dell and Seagate Technology's ratings. Going forward, market watchers
hope that September, historically a weak month for the market, continues to
break records.
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.thomson.com/financial.
SOURCE Thomson Financial Corporate Group
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