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Chip Stocks Lift Nasdaq To 0.7% Gain; Apple Rebounds; Momo Nears Breakout

Tech stocks outperformed Thursday, helped by a tame reading on consumer inflation before the open and a strong showing for Chinese indexes overnight. The Nasdaq composite ended with a gain of 0.7%, helped by a rebound in semiconductor stocks.

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Several Nasdaq-listed chip stocks outperformed, including ASML (ASML), Qualcomm (QCOM), Micron (MU) and Skyworks Solutions (SWKS). The Philadelphia semiconductor index rebounded 1.2% after falling 1.2% Wednesday.

The Dow Jones industrial average picked up 0.6% and the S&P 500 added 0.5%. Small caps lagged badly, with the Russell 2000 down 0.2%. Preliminary data showed volume on the NYSE and Nasdaq coming in slightly lower than Wednesday's levels.

China's Hang Seng Index surged 2.5% overnight, fueling big gains for several China-based stocks Wednesday. Shares of Momo (MOMO) jumped nearly 7% to 46.87. It's working on an erratic cup-with-handle base with a 47.85 buy point. Other nice gainers in the China space included NetEase (NTES), JD.com (JD) and Ctrip.com (CTRP).

After the close, Sector Leader Adobe Systems (ADBE) reported better-than-expected earnings and sales. Shares added 0.7% to 270.30 in after-hours trading. It's still in buy range from a 263.93 entry after a breakout from a later-stage base.

Tech Stocks Lead Dow

In stock market results today, Dow component Apple (AAPL) rallied more than 2% after selling the news yesterday. The company on Wednesday released a new line of iPhones and improvements to the Apple Watch. Other tech stocks in the Dow outperformed. Intel (INTC) and IBM (IBM) ended with gains of more than 1%.

Top gainers in the MarketSmith Growth 250 included Stitch Fix (SFIX), Match Group (MTCH) and Atlassian (TEAM).

Match Group is also a member of the IBD 50. Shares soared 6% to 59.58. The stock hasn't looked back after reporting earnings and gapping out of a consolidation in August. Strength in Match helped lift Innovator IBD 50 (FFTY) to a gain of around 0.7%.

At the New York Mercantile Exchange, benchmark crude oil for October delivery slumped 2.5% to $68.59 a barrel, backing off four-month highs.

The 10-year Treasury yield was unchanged at 2.96%. Wholesale inflation data released Wednesday and consumer inflation data released Thursday were softer than expected.

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