Sector Investing

[ReturntoSender]

Chips hit by Intel jitters

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/yhoo/story.asp?source=blq/yhoo&siteid=yhoo&dist=yhoo&gui...

By Jenny Spitz, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 6:35 PM ET July 2, 2004
E-mail it / Print / Discuss / Alert / Reprint / RSS

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Chip stocks bore the brunt of a down week on Wall Street.

Intel (INTC: news, chart, profile) spent much of the week in the red after analysts warned the company may have trouble meeting sales expectations for its second quarter. See full story. The news, along with a weak jobs number on Friday, helped push down the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ($SOX: news, chart, profile) 4.7 percent over the week.

Networking stocks were also weak. The Amex Networking Index declined 3.2 percent on the week.

Financial stocks were on a roller coaster. An earnings warning from Washington Mutual (WM: news, chart, profile) sent bank stocks tumbling at the start of the week. See full story. But the financial sector, in contrast to the overall market, was stable after the Federal Reserve announced that it was raising interest rates a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday. See full story.

Brokers J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM: news, chart, profile) and Lehman Brothers (LEH: news, chart, profile) declined at the end of the week on concerns over lawsuits and merger-and-acquisition activity. The Amex Securities Broker/Dealer Index ($XBD: news, chart, profile) fell 1.9 percent this week and the Philadelphia Banking Index ($BKX: news, chart, profile) was off 0.6 percent.

Gold stocks also never fully recovered from a sharp drop in the price of gold futures Tuesday. The Philadelphia Gold & Silver Index ($XAU: news, chart, profile) was down 1.4 percent over the week, the CBOE Gold Index ($GOX: news, chart, profile) fell 1 percent and the Amex Gold Bugs Index (HUI: news, chart, profile) dipped 1.5 percent.

Two portions of the energy sector gained. The Philadelphia Oil Service Index ($OSX: news, chart, profile) rose 1 percent this week and the Amex Natural Gas Index ($XNG: news, chart, profile) was up 0.4 percent.