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,
reported 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.
"Absent a double-dip recession, expect above-average financials
well into 2010," Charter Equity Research analyst Edward Snyder said
in a note.
And Intel's momentum is good news for the personal computer
manufacturers, Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu said.
"The takeaway for many PC vendors is positive," he said in a
note, citing such players as Hewlett-Packard and Apple.
Shares of H-P (HPQ) were up 2.4%, while Apple (AAPL) gained 0.8%
and Dell Inc. (DELL) rose 2.2%.
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 3%.
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) was up 1.1%, while
the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) added 0.7%.
Other gains came from major tech players including Amazon.com
(AMZN), Google Inc. (GOOG) and Oracle Corp. (ORCL).