[4:00 PM] Apple Stock Watch: Tech Stocks Resume Market Leadership, AAPL Climbs
by Wes George
The Dow got sucker punched by inflation fears fueled by the strong hike in employment costs and GDP, while the tech heavy Nasdaq fared much better, led higher by Internet and semiconductor stocks. Apple advanced 4.5%.
Gross domestic product growth slowed to a 5.4% annual rate during the first quarter, down from 7.3% in the last quarter of 1999, according to data released by the Commerce Department. Most economists had forecast a 6% growth rate.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department reported that employment costs were up 1.4%, accelerating from the 4th quarter's 1.0% pace.
According to the Wall Street Journal, "The Fed, fearing that unchecked growth could worsen inflation, has raised interest rates five times since June 30 to slow the speeding economy. Given the outlook for continued strong growth, many economists believe the Fed will boost interest rates on May 16 and again in June. Thursday's data could spur fears that the central bank will embark on an even more aggressive policy to tighten the money supply. The last year's rate increases have been quarter-point steps, but some analysts have feared the Fed could boost rates by half of a percentage point."
The Mac Observer Stock Watch Virtual Portfolio gained back some lost ground on strong performances by Apple and Akamai.
Apple climbed 5 7/16 to close at 126 3/4 on light volume of 2.9 million shares.
The Nasdaq climbed 143 points (3.97%) to closed at the day's high of 3774 on volume of 1.5 billion shares traded. The semiconductor stocks were the market leaders today.
The Dow lost 57 points (-0.52%) to close at 10888.10 on volume of 1.1 billion shares. A late day rally in financial stocks pared the Dow's losses, which was down as much as 200 points in the morning.
The S&P 500 gained 3.93 points (0.27%) to close at 1464.92.
In Apple related businesses: Akamai gained 9 7/8 to close at 83 3/8. ARM Holdings gained 1/2 to close at 30 1/8. Adobe traded higher by 8 9/16 to close at 123 7/16. Earthlink gained 3/8 to close at 18 3/16. Motorola lost 1 7/8 to close at 116 1/8. IBM slid 1/4 to 110 1/4.
Macromedia reported earnings triple that of last year at $0.22 per share, $0.06 better than First Call expected. The stock soared 17 1/2 to 78 3/4 as several analysts upgraded the company.
Apple's competitors: Hewlett Packard was down 2 11/16 to close at 137 7/8. Intel climbed 4 1/2 to close at 125 5/16. Gateway lost 1/4 to close at 54 15/16. Compaq gained 3/8 to close at 29 5/8. Shares of Microsoft gained 1 3/4 to 69 3/4.
The bellwether 30-year US Treasury bond lost 10/32 to 103 18/32. The yield, which moves inversely to the price, climbed to 5.99%.
For full quotes on all the companies mentioned in this article, we have assembled this set of quotes at Yahoo! for your reference. We also have many of these same quotes reported live (20 minute delay) on our home page. For other stories regarding Apple's stock activity, visit our Apple Stock Watch Special Report.
For full quotes on all the companies mentioned in this article, we have assembled this set of quotes at Yahoo! for your reference. We also have many of these same quotes reported live (20 minute delay) on our home page. For other stories regarding Apple's stock activity, visit our Apple Stock Watch Special Report.
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