By Benjamin Pimentel
The tech sector staged an early rally on Wednesday, powered by
Intel. Corp.'s upbeat earnings report.
Intel (INTC), the world's biggest semiconductor company, posted
a lower profit, but reported better-than-expected sales and a
fourth quarter outlook that exceeded Wall Street expectations.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip behemoth's shares were up
more than 2% in early trading.
"Intel delivered more than the blowout third-quarter financial
results and fourth-quarter guidance that investors were looking
for," FBR Capital analyst Craig Berger said in a note.
Riding on Intel's upbeat view of the near future, shares of
other chip companies also rose. Intel's arch-rival Advanced Micro
Devices (AMD), which reports its results on Thursday, saw its
shares jump nearly 4%.
These gains helped set the stage for a sector-wide rally that
pushed the Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) up about 1% to 2,160.
The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) and the Philadelphia
Semiconductor Index (SOX) each added about 1%.
Other gains came from major tech players including
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Google Inc. (GOOG) and Oracle Corp.
(ORCL).