No new news good news

A BOUNCE in semiconductor and financial stocks amid improved market sentiment gave stocks a lift at midday yesterday, overshadowing worries the previously strong housing market may be slowing down.

Around 11.30am ET, the Nasdaq composite was up 23.17 to 1397.68, while the Dow Jones industrial average was up 46.96 to 8521.74 and Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up 6.22 to 902.96.

“The Nasdaq’s up strong, the chips and financials are up and that appears to be a lot of the engine,” said Douglas Altabef, managing director at Matrix Asset Advisors. “There’s no real compelling reason for stocks to be up. But you’ve got little new news and there’s an upward bias, so we’re up today after a few days of selling. The antsiness about retail seems to have played itself out and there’s a fair amount of cyclical rotation going on.”