By Gavin Adamson
(February 29 – 17:00 ET) The TSE bucked a widespread trend as much of the high tech sector dropped today.
A Salomon Smith Barney analyst in the U.S. upgraded his recommendation for a number of computer chip companies, sending related stocks upwards on both of the main indices in the U.S. The analyst said computer and chip companies would gain as corporations increase their IT spending.
The Nasdaq closed at another record – up 119.35 to 4,697.20. Semiconductor stocks, Xilinx, LSI Logic, and Vitesse each gained, with many others following in their path. Winners outplayed losers by 26 to 22 on the Nasdaq market.
Hewlett Packard led the Dow upwards with its US$8 3/4 surge to $137 5/8. It’s subsidiary, Agilent, which makes equipment to test cell-phones continues to bring in earnings. GE also gained, having revealed two new digital x-ray machines that the market liked.
The TSE was a completely different story. Although JDS Uniphase, the fibre optics leader, gained C$7.85, to $190.45, BCE and Nortel each rung in with losses. Research in Motion, lost much of yesterday’s big gain, finishing down $14 to $202. The consumer products and the oils and gase sectors were the only winners today.
The CDNX was led upwards by a manufacturer of diagnostic and therapeutic equipement, FAS Internation, which swelled by 50% to 75 cents. Inlet Resources also racked up a 56% increase, to 29 cents.