Warren Buffett“A public opinion poll is no substitute for thought.”
Adlin Sinclair“Success is a welcomed gift for the uninhibited mind.”
Techs lead Wall St higher; Intel up after results (Reuters)
's quarterly results that business spending will bolster profits in the sector.
.O), a Dow component and the world's largest chipmaker, after the bell reported a quarterly profit that beat expectations. Its shares had risen 2.5 percent ahead of the results.
Intel results “tell you a lot about what companies are capable of doing post-recession,” said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at
in San Francisco.
“Even on flat revenues companies are going to make money. That's the coattail that Intel is going to have for everybody tomorrow.”
.O), the world's No. 2 business software maker behind
.O), to its “best ideas” list and raised its price target.
Oracle gained 2.5 percent to $25.37 and
rose 2 percent to $30.96, leading gains in the
(.IXIC).
The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) added 29.78 points, or 0.28 percent, to 10,710.55.
& Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) rose 2.78 points, or 0.24 percent, to 1,148.46. The
(.IXIC) gained 8.84 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,316.74.
After the bell, Intel shares gained 1.7 percent to $21.85 and
ticked higher as trading resumed after 4:30 p.m. (2130 GMT). Shares of
.N) , an Intel rival, and Microsoft also rose in after-hours trade.
During regular trading, the market rose despite an unexpected drop in December U.S. retail sales and an increase in new
last week that topped estimates.
“The market was able to shrug off the data because as long as news is bad, government stimulus will keep coming,” said
, chief investment strategist at
ChannelCapitalResearch.com
in Shrewsbury, New Jersey.
In the financial sector, the
(.BKX) was up 1.6 percent, led mainly by regional and mid-size banks.
.N) jumped 2.9 percent to $34.13 after brokerage
upgraded its stock.
Bank shares were in the spotlight after U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday proposed a fee to make big banks repay taxpayers for bailouts.
The sector had fallen earlier in the week on speculation about the fee.
nearly 890 million shares changed hands, below last year's estimated daily average of 2.18 billion. On the Nasdaq, about 2.29 billion shares traded, above last year's daily average of 1.63 billion.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a ratio of about 4 to 3, while on the Nasdaq nearly 7 stocks rose for every 5 that fell.