Wall Street Beat: Tech stocks hit multiyear highs, though some retreat

07.09.2012
The tech-heavy Nasdaq retreated a bit Friday after a rally Thursday in which the exchange touched its highest point since 2000, after the dot-com bubble burst and tech stocks started their descent.

Market news at the end of the week showed that while some tech stars like Apple and Google continue to fly high, economic uncertainties are buffeting most IT companies.

Thursday's market uptick was propelled by the release of details of a plan by the European Central Bank to use a stability fund to buy up short-term European debt. Most large U.S.-based international companies sell a significant amount of products in Europe, so sovereign debt in countries like Greece and Spain, and recession in several E.U. countries, have weighed heavily on financial forecasts of American businesses.

The major U.S. indexes and exchanges all rose Thursday, with the Nasdaq closing at 3,135.81, its highest close since Oct. 11, 2000.

However, a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report report Friday caused the Nasdaq and the Dow Jones Industrial Average to retreat somewhat. The U.S. economy added 96,000 jobs in August, a disappointment since analyst forecasts had been in the 125,000 range. Also, July's jobs figure was revised down to 141,000 from 163,000. Though the unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent in August, that was ascribed to a shrinking labor pool: Many workers have given up trying to find jobs and have retreated from the labor market.

The Nasdaq Computer stock index edged down by 0.31 percent Friday to close at 1702.48. Adding to the retreat from Thursday's euphoria was a Friday that cut guidance for this quarter's sales.