By Benjamin Pimentel
Technology stocks edged higher Monday morning, led by Advanced
Micro Devices shares of which jumped at the opening bell after
getting an upgrade from Citigroup.
PC maker Dell Inc. (DELL) also got a boost from an upgrade,
after an analyst at Broadpoint AmTech raised his rating on the
stock to buy. Dell shares were up 3.5% to $15 in early trades
Monday. The same analyst had upgraded Dell from a sell rating in
March.
"Two factors that kept us at neutral despite our recent positive
bias were the enterprise IT demand environment and downward mix
shift in PCs," analyst Dinesh Morrjani wrote in a note to clients.
"We are now more optimistic on the PC demand outlook and believe
the downward mix shift has played out for the most part."
Dell reports earnings results for the second fiscal quarter on
Thursday.
AMD (AMD) was up nearly 10% after Citigroup raised its rating
for the chip maker to buy from hold, citing "favorable risk/reward
profile."
The semiconductor giant's gains helped propel the Nasdaq
Composite Index (RIXF) to 2,026, for a gain of 0.3%. The Morgan
Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) was up 0.1%, while the
Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) added 0.4%.
Other gainers included Yahoo Inc. (YHOO), up 1.4%, and Cisco
Systems (CSCO), up 1.9%. EBay was up 1.3% while Oracle was up 1.6%.
Intel Corp. (INTC) Google Inc. (GOOG) and Amazon.com (AMZN) were up
fractionally.