(DOW JONES) DJN: =DJ Compaq Up-2: Tech Sector Sees Gains As Rate Concerns Ease
By Bob Sechler
AUSTIN, Texas (Dow Jones)--Technology stocks rallied overall Friday, a broad
trend that analysts attributed to an easing of interest rate concerns in the
wake of new economic data indicating the economy may be cooling.
"Anything that will keep (Federal Reserve Chairman Alan) Greenspan from
raising rates further is going to make the market go higher," said Craig
Ellis, a tech fund manager at Orbitex Management Inc. in Manhattan. "You're
seeing everything just kind of blanketly rising."
U.S. employment figures for February showed the jobless rate climbing to
4.1% from January's 30-year low of 4%, Investors apparently interpreted the
news as a positive sign that the Federal Reserve may not resort to
aggressively raising interest rates this year to curb the hot economy.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index recently was up 2.8%, or 134.31, at
4888.82. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2.4%, or 248.2, at
10413.12.
Gainers within the broad technology sector included chip stocks, with the
Philadelphia Stock Exchange's semiconductor index up 5.5% at 1198.28. Among
chip-makers, Intel Corp. (INTC) was up 2% at 118 1/16, National
Semiconductor Corp. (NSM) was up 3.8% at 76 5/16 and Texas Instruments Inc.
(TXN) was up 6.4% at 184.
Many computer hardware makers also climbed, with International Business
Machines Corp. (IBM) rising 5.9% to 109 3/16 and Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ)
up 6.6% at 28 7/16. Software giant Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) was up 4.8% at 97
7/8, while Oracle Corp. (ORCL) climbed 4.7% to 71 3/4.
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