Techs power Nasdaq to a high point

MUMBAI: Technology stocks powered ahead at the Wall Street on Tuesday, pulling the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index to its highest close in 16 months. The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average also touched a new 14-month high.






By the closing bell, the Nasdaq jumped 21.62 points or 1.24 percent at 1,761.11, while the Dow rose 16.45 points or 0.17 per cent at 9,428.90. The broader Standard & Poor`s 500 Index added 2.61 points or 0.26 per cent to end the day`s trades at 1,002.35.





Tech counters rose on the back of positive sentiments as select companies raised their outlook for the current quarter. The Broadcom scrip surged $2.50 or 11 per cent to $25.35 after it said that its revenue for the current quarter would rise about 10 per cent from the previous quarter. Leading maker of technology products Flextronics International though left its earnings outlook unchanged, said that its business had improved in July, and expected to see more improvement in August. The stock gained $1.19 or 10 per cent to end at $12.84.





Micron Technologies was among the most actively traded scrips at the New York Stock Exchange. It rose $1.10 or nine per cent to finish at $13.86.





Other news that had a bearing on the day`s trades was the government report showing that US housing starts touched a 17-year high in July, which helped overshadow another report on US consumer sentiment that slipped unexpectedly in August.





Meanwhile, the news of an explosion in a bus in Jewish west Jerusalem on Tuesday, killing three people and injuring at least six others, briefly weighed on the stocks. Earlier on Tuesday, a bomb devastated the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, killing the UN special envoy to Iraq and at least 14 others.





Trading remained active, with close to 1.3 billion shares being trades on the New York Stock Exchange, and 1.7 billion shares traded on Nasdaq.





However, after the close of the day`s trades, Hewlett-Packard Co reported dismal quarterly results. The tech bellwether posted a profit as against loss in the year ago period, and also a slight rise in its revenue, but failed to meet street estimates. Shares of HP dipped about 10.5 per cent in after-hours trading to $19.80 from $22.11 at Tuesday`s close on the NYSE.





ADRs end lower; techs mixed

Indian ADRs at the US bourses ended lower on Tuesday. However, the tech rally at the Wall Street, though did not completely reflect on the tech ADRs, helped them end the day`s trades on a mixed note. Tech counter Rediff soared 13.6 per cent to end at $5.45 on robust volumes of 13,51,085.

Infosys was up 1.92 per cent at $53 and Satyam Infoway added 3.65 per cent at $6.25, while Wipro wiped off 0.59 per cent at $21.82 and Satyam Computer shed 0.38 per cent at $10.55.

Telecom issues MTNL (up 0.91% at $5.55) and BSNL (up 0.4% at $5.04) ended on a mixed note.

Banking scrips ended lower. While ICICI Bank lost 0.62 per cent at $7.96, HDFC Bank fell 0.43 per cent at $22.99.

Pharma counter DR Reddy`s Laboratories also ended in the negative terrain, slipping 0.72 per cent at $23.28.

Source: IRIS