Good financial results from Marvell Technologies helped the semiconductor sector up, but the market in general ended the week on a flat.
Major stock markets ended with a slight change on Friday as China’s central bank raised the bank reserve requirements again, in a bid to restraint prices, but that could hamper growth.
The S&P 500 finished below 1200, mark analysts believe they should break convincingly or they could trade in a tight range for the rest of 2010.
Trading earlier in the day was balanced by the material and tech shares. On the NASDAQ, Marvell Technologies went up by 6.1% to $20.09 after its revenue exceeded forecasts.
Stifel Nicolaus’s managing director, Dave Lutz, believed that the customers were saving for a looming inflation.
Investment strategist William Delwiche said that the overall response was too optimistic as he sees the market in retracting range. He believes a dose of healthy pessimism is needed to make way for year end rally supported by a favorable Federal Reserve policy.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI added 0.20 percent, to 11,203.55. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index .SPX also had a 0.25 percent increase, to 1,199.73, and the NASDAQ Composite Index.IXIC grew by 0.15 percent, to 2,518.12.
After rallying up 13% in September and October, the S&P5 500 fell by 2.1% in two weeks amid concerns of reduction in China and debt problems in Europe. A plan to bail Ireland’s banks will be unveiled next week, EU sources say.
The markets were flat at the end of the week with slight gains in different indexes.
A positive sign was that S&P broke above its 20 day average after falling below it earlier this week.
Marvell boosted the semiconductor sector, with SanDisk posting 3.9 percent increase. The semiconductor index rose by 1.6 percent.
Dell Inc had a 1.7 percent increase, to 13.90 dollars per share, after raising its profit expectations for year-end.
General Motors gave up 0.2 percent to $34.26 a day after a record IPO. In other news, Harrah’s Entertainment ended its IPO, citing market conditions.
