All Eyes On Intel

All eyes will be on Intel tomorrow night, as investors and analysts scour the company’s mid-quarter update for signs of a recovery in the chip sector.

Analysts say they expect no surprises from Intel tomorrow night. However, JP Morgan reiterated its Underweight rating on the stock today based on declining motherboard sales, valuation, and a back-end loaded quarter that could force Intel to miss estimates when it reports earnings next month, even if the company reaffirms guidance tomorrow night.

In short, a big test for the rally that has carried the Nasdaq to 21% gains so far this year.

The broader market surged Wednesday on a better than expected services sector report. Since the market usually ignores that report, some analysts said the market rallied just because sidelined money wants in. Jobless claims and factory orders on Thursday and May employment figures on Friday will be more important.

The Nasdaq surged 31 to 1634, the S&P 500 rose 14 to 986, and the Dow gained 116 to 9038. Volume rose to 1.6 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.53 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 25-7 on the NYSE, and 22-10 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 85% on the NYSE, and 74% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 528-4 on the NYSE, and 311-3 on the Nasdaq.

After the close, Maxim and Xilinx declined on mixed guidance.

During the day, Palm and Handspring surged on merger plans.

Microsoft slipped on an internal email that said there are still “significant challenges” ahead for the tech sector.

Genesis Microchip fell 10.8% on a warning.

Oracle surged 4.3% to a new 52-week high.

HP gained 4.8% on an outsourcing pact.

Motorola rose 5.5% on home networking plans.

Comverse rose 5.2% after beating estimates, and Altera added 3% after raising guidance. Flextronics surged 14% after raising estimates.

Yahoo climbed 3.6% on a new marketing chief.

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