Stock indexes climbed higher Thursday afternoon, but volume remained in a lower gear.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average rallied 1.1% while the Nasdaq climbed 1%. The Philadelphia semiconductor index outperformed with a 1.4% gain. Volume in the stock market today was running lower on the Nasdaq and NYSE exchanges vs. Wednesday.
The S&P 500 and Dow industrials retook their 50-day lines, while the Nasdaq was knocking on the door of its nearly converged 50-day and 200-day lines.
Among chip stocks, Cypress Semiconductor (CY) rallied 9.5% in very heavy volume average. In April, Cypress announced it would acquire Broadcom's (AVGO) Internet of Things unit. The deal is expected to close in Q3. The chip space rode a merger and consolidation trend in 2015, and that trend doesn't appear to be entirely over.
Semiconductor stocks fell with the Brexit news, but they have been recovering. The semiconductor industry isn't all that dependent on Europe. According to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics, Europe accounted for about 10% of sales, as of April. Within Europe, Germany, not Britain, has the biggest exposure to chips.
Blue chips, meanwhile, were up almost without exception. In the Dow, Visa (V) was the day's only loser, down 3% in heavy volume. A judge overturned a Visa and MasterCard (MA) settlement with merchants. The Dow's biggest gainer was General Electric (GE), up 2% in volume about 15% above average.
In the IBD 50, a proxy for the best stocks via fundamentals and technicals, more than five stocks were up for every stock that was down.
