MARKET REPORT
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Bargain hunters returned to the North American stock markets Friday and
drove all the major indexes up, including a 5% surge on Nasdaq. But market
watchers cautioned not to mistake Friday's uptick as a sustainable rally.
U.S. markets closed at 1 p.m. ET while the Canadian markets traded for a
full day.
For small caps, the Russell 2000 ended Friday up 13.97 points or 3.05% to
471.87 while the S&P 600 closed higher by 5.64 points or 2.78% to
208.17.The Wilshire Small Cap 1750 put on 25.7 points or 3.48% to 765.
Investors have been snapping up tech plays and consequently pushed the
Nasdaq Composite Index up 148.6 points or 5.39% to 2903.90. The tech-heavy
Nasdaq had surrendered 116.11 points or 4% on Wednesday to close at 2755.34
its lowest level since October 1999.
Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) and Oracle Corp (NASDAQ: ORCL), beaten up
early in the week are coming back to life. Software maker Oracle tacked on
8.12% to close at 24 1/8 while wireless Internet developer Qualcomm is up
7.05%, closing at 84 1/2.
The blue-chip laden Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 71.23 points or
0.68% to 10,470.23.
Scotty George, chief strategist at Corinthian Partners Asset Management
said generally after a U.S. holiday, the markets will respond positively
but it would be erroneous to predict Friday's upswing will continue into
the short-term or long-term future.
"A lot of what happens next week clearly will be defined by what happens
Sunday," said George, referring to a Florida Supreme Court imposed deadline
to complete a hand recount of ballots in key Florida districts. "While I
don't ascribe an awful lot to the election as a determinant to the market
place, I do think the psychology of the elections are imposing a kind of
artificial barrier on the upside potential of the market."
Election woes aside, George said he sees more downside strength to the
market than he does an "accelerated process to the upside."
"I think the market will continue to be choppy and tend to bias toward
lower lows and lower highs until we work out valuation and fundamental
components that I think will get us back onto a bullish track."
George, however, doesn't see a bull market returning until the end of the
first quarter in 2001.
Earlier Friday, I/B/E/S International equity strategist Joe Kalinowski said
today's reversal of fortune in the markets (compared to Wednesday) is good
to see but volumes are so thin it doesn't mean much.
"There are guys out there looking for the bargains thinking the past few
days is the bottom," said Kalinowski. "But I seriously don't think the
heavy money will come in until we have the political turmoil settled and
until we start to get a better grasp on fourth-quarter earnings."
Kalinowski isn't expecting a sustained market turnaround until January or
early February.
In Canadian trading, the Toronto Stock Exchange added to Thursday's gains
and climbed back above the 9000 point mark. The TSE finished up 99.68
points, or 1.12%, at 9024.4.
Canadian bellwether stock Nortel Networks (TSE: NT) is up slightly,
increasing 10 cents or 0.17% to C$59.30.
In Canadian small cap trading, the Canadian Venture Exchange pulled back
above 3000 points, closing at 3062.34, up 58.19 points, or 1.9%.
In currency markets, the Canadian dollar moved 0.60% higher against the
U.S. dollar to US$0.6502.
AI
