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Technology Stocks : Applied Materials No-Politics Thread (AMAT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: robert b furman who wrote (16633)	11/22/2005 3:42:55 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

Stocks rise on FOMC rate view Tuesday November 22, 3:37 pm ET By Ellis Mnyandu NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as minutes from the most recent meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy-setting committee suggested that the Fed may be looking at ways to end its recent cycle of interest-rate hikes. Investors' expectations for a pause in interest-rate increases put them more in the mood to buy stocks and helped take some of the edge off their earlier worries about rising crude prices. Gains in interest-rate-sensitive stocks, including shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT - News), the world's largest retailer, and Altria Group Inc. (NYSE:MO - News), parent of cigarette maker Philip Morris USA, propelled the Dow higher. Intel Corp.'s (NasdaqNM:INTC - News) shares boosted technology stocks, a day after the world's largest chip maker and Micron Technology Inc. (NYSE:MU - News) announced a venture to make flash memory chips for consumer electronics, removable data and other products. The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI - News) was up 44 points, or 0.41 percent, at 10,864.38. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (^SPX - News) was up 5.63 points, or 0.45 percent, at 1,260.48. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index (NasdaqSC:^IXIC - News) was up 13.17 points, or 0.59 percent, at 2,254.84, after earlier hitting a fresh 52-week high at 2,257.77. Financial shares also advanced. Citigroup shares (NYSE:C - News) gained 0.9 percent to $48.96. Minutes of the November 1 meeting of the U.S. central bank's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee said "some members cautioned that risks of going too far with the tightening process could also eventually emerge." At its November 1 meeting, the FOMC raised rates for a 12th straight time, bringing the trend-setting federal funds rate for overnight loans between banks to 4 percent. "The minutes clearly show the Fed was starting to make some noises that a lot of the work is done," said Mark Bronzo, managing director at Gartmore Separate Accounts LLC. A pause from the Fed "would help re-steepen the yield curve, which a lot of us are concerned about, and it would take one of the negatives for the stock prices away," he added. On the Nasdaq, Intel shares jumped 3.5 percent to $26.14. Intel, also one of the 30 stocks in the Dow, also helped the blue-chip average. On the NYSE, Micron shares rose 2.8 percent to $14.60. Earlier, Micron's stock hit an intraday high of $14.74, its highest level in nearly 1-1/2 years. Wal-Mart shares rose 1 percent to $50.17 on the NYSE.