Tech Gains Slip Away
A rally to new multi-year highs on the Nasdaq and S&P faded Tuesday after profit-taking began in the futures market and spread to stocks.
Stocks were in early rally mode after a government report showed strong productivity gains and low wage pressures during the third quarter, easing inflation fears ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting next week.
Tech stock gains came courtesy of the letter A:
Adobe rallied 5% after completing its acquisition of Macromedia.
Apple climbed 3% to a new all-time high after UBS raised earnings estimates on the company.
And Altera gained 6% after reaffirming guidance, raising hopes for mid-quarter updates later this week from Texas Instruments and Intel.
Still, the good news wasn't enough to keep sellers at bay, as stocks ended the day well off their highs.
The Nasdaq added 3 to 2260, the S&P 500 climbed 1 to 1263, and the Dow rose 21 to 10,856. Volume declined to 2.14 billion shares on the NYSE, but rose to 1.85 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 18-15 on the NYSE, and 16-14 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 61% on the NYSE, and 61% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 221-63 on the NYSE, and 206-41 on the Nasdaq.
Maxim gained 4% after raising guidance.
Brocade and Comtech fell on their results.