Tech stocks got off to a slightly upbeat start Tuesday morning, fueled by Intel’s $5.4 billion proposed acquisition of Tower Semiconductor. At last look, the Nasdaq Composite traded up by about 1.72%, the S&P 500 up by around 1.11% and the Dow Jones industrials up by 0.8%. The S&P 500 and the Dow closed lower on Monday while the Nasdaq ended the day flat.
Tuesday morning’s report on January’s producer price index (PPI), rather than giving traders heartburn, led them to open their wallets and push the major indexes all up by more than a full percentage point. The headline number rose by 1.0% in January, double the consensus estimate for a rise of 0.5% and more than double December’s 0.4% increase. The PPI has increased by 9.7% since January of last year.
The uptick in index values may be down more to a report that Russia has said it is withdrawing some troops from its border with Ukraine. More than 130,000 troops had been moved to the border, and the Russians did not say how many were being withdrawn.
Consumer cyclicals was the only sector trading higher (up 0.2%) in the early going. The other 10 market sectors traded lower in the first half-hour or so of trading, with energy down 2.1% and health care down 1.1%.
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Here are 13 Nasdaq 100 index stocks that were making the biggest moves early Monday.
Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ: TSEM | TSEM Price Prediction) traded up by about 42% to $46.92, above its 52-week range of $24.81 to $41.31, following an announced $5.4 billion acquisition of the Israel-based analog device maker. Tower’s chips are used in a variety of devices, including automobiles, and its acquisition boosts Intel’s manufacturing capacity and technology portfolio. Tower is not included in the Nasdaq 100 index, but it is easily Tuesday’s biggest mover among tech stocks.
Marvell Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MRVL) traded up by about 4.4%, at $70.76 in a 52-week range of $37.92 to $93.85. The company had no specific news, but it is surfing the wake of the Intel deal.
Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) was up about 3.0%, at $250.28 in a 52-week range of $115.67 to $346.47. The company had no specific news Tuesday morning.
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Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHP) traded up about 3.1%, at $73.39 in a 52-week range of $64.53 to $90.00.
Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ: LRCX) traded up by about 2.9%, at $574.58 in a 52-week range of $501.67 to $731.85. The company had no specific news, but it is another semiconductor equipment maker.
KLA Corp. (NASDAQ: KLAC) traded up by about 3.3%, at $377.25 in a 52-week range of $273.24 to $457.12. Another semiconductor equipment maker.
Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) traded up about 2.7%, at $135.39 in a 52-week range of $105.50 to $167.06. The company had no specific news, but it is another semiconductor equipment maker.
ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: ASML) traded up about 3.0%, at $646.99 in a 52-week range of $501.11 to $895.93. The company had no specific news, but it is another semiconductor equipment maker.
Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI) traded up 2.7%, at $158.19 in a 52-week range of $142.25 to $191.95. The company had no specific news but makes the same sort of chips as Tower.
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS) traded up 2.1%, at $145.03 in a 52-week range of $118.11 to $192.70. Cadence makes the application software that many chipmakers use to design their chips.
NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI) traded up by about 2.2%, at $189.97 in a 52-week range of $164.19 to $239.91. The chipmaker had no specific news.
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) traded up about 0.2%, at $47.67 in a 52-week range of $46.30 to $68.49. Investors were pleased to see the company take a step to grow its business.
On the negative side, we could find only three tech stock losers in early trading Tuesday.
Fiserv Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV) traded down about 1.4%, at $96.54 in a 52-week range of $92.06 to $127.34. The company had no specific news, but rival Fidelity National Information Services posted weak results and offered downside guidance in the morning. Fiserv’s decline is likely a coattail effect.
Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) traded down about 0.5%, at $526.18 in a 52-week range of $365.15 to $716.86. Revenue guidance did not meet expectations.
Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) traded down about 0.7%, at $124.09 in a 52-week range of $105.45 to $176.66. The company is not going to be acquired by Cisco for $20 billion or more. At least, not yet.
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