| Apple's 7-day trading streak came to an end today as the stock closed lower. Apple still remains above 60 however, and so far has not fallen victim to extreme profit taking. Apple closed at 60 5/16, a small loss of 3/16 or 0.31%. Volume was light with 2,865,500 shares trading hands.
Traders today were watching for the Consumer Price Index report to come in as it is one of the key indicators of inflation that Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan considers when deciding monetary policy. The Fed is set to meet next week and is largely expected to raise interest rates, though fears of multiple increases have subsided during the last two weeks. According to an AP report:
The Labor Department said its Consumer Price Index, a closely watched gauge of inflation, rose 0.3 percent in July. That matched analysts' expectations, and raised hopes that the Fed will take a moderate course in setting interest rates.
The Fed raised short-term rates in June, and has indicated it would be willing to do so again if policy-makers determine higher rates would keep inflation at bay. The threat of higher rates has kept many on Wall Street tightly focused on each new economic indicator.
While the CPI report suggested inflation is not accelerating, the good news was somewhat tempered by two separate reports that showed a surge in new home construction in July and a strong advance in output at the nation's factories, mines and utilities.
Still, many analysts were reassured that the Fed would perceive the data as grounds for one small increase, probably when its Open Market Committee meets on Aug. 24.
PC stocks were mixed today with IBm, Gateway 2000, and Compaq all closing up. Dell and Hewlett-Packard both closed down. Hewlett-Packard suffered the Apple syndrome today with sharp losses on the stock market, closing at 104 1/2, down 5 3/4 or 5.22%, following better than expected 3rd quarter results.
The Dow and the Nasdaq both performed well with the Dow closing at 11117.08, a gain of 70.29 and the Nasdaq closing at 2671.22, a gain of 25.94.
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