Techs lead advanceMajor stock gauges rise in the early going, take surprise Bank of England rate cut in stride.NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A rising technology tech sector continued to fuel a stock market advance Thursday, as investors shrugged off rising bond yields and a surprise interest rate hike from the Bank of England. The Nasdaq (up 15.38 to 2,474.71, Charts) composite added 0.6 percent in the early going. The Dow Jones industrial average (up 23.79 to 12,465.95, Charts) and the broader S&P 500 (up 5.84 to 1,420.69, Charts) index both saw smaller gains. 
The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the stock advance Wednesday amid lower oil prices and some upbeat earnings. Those factors remained in place Thursday. U.S. light crude oil prices for February delivery fell 2 cents to $54 a barrel in electronic trading. Oil and gas prices have been slumping since the start of the year. A decline in energy prices helps reduce inflationary pressures on the economy and puts more money back in the hands of consumers. Also a good sign for the economy: the weekly jobless claims report, which fell to the lowest level since July. On the downside, investors on both sides of the Atlantic were thrown for a loop after the Bank of England opted to boost its benchmark lending rate by a quarter-percentage point due to pricing pressures. The move surprised economists who thought the bankers would hold steady for the time being. The next Federal Reserve policy meeting is not until the end of January and economists expect the central bank to hold steady. Comments are expected later in the session from Federal Reserve Governor Susan Schmidt Bies. Treasury prices slumped, boosting the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 4.71 percent from 4.68 percent late Wednesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions. In currency trading, the dollar gained versus the yen and euro. Although the fourth-quarter earnings reporting period doesn't heat up until later in the month, a few companies released results. Late Wednesday, Genentech (up $2.67 to $86.41, Charts) reported quarterly sales and earnings that rose from a year ago and topped estimates. The biotech also issued a 2007 earnings growth projection that is more than analysts are currently forecasting. Shares rallied Thursday morning. In other news, Cisco Systems (up $0.17 to $28.85, Charts) is suing Apple (down $0.90 to $96.10, Charts) for trademark infringement over the name of its new device iPhone. (Full story). |
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