Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) led the tech sector higher on Wednesday, but Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) traded lower after updating its financial guidance.
Apple shares bounced 3.4 percent to halt a three-week slide after an Oppenheimer analyst said the company could launch a tablet by spring. Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) slipped 2 percent on the news.
RIM shares jumped 5.7 percent on optimism about the company’s move into China and ahead of its quarterly earnings report next week. Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) will also report results next week.
But TI shares slipped 1.5 percent after its sales guidance wasn’t everything investors had hoped, as the chipmaker had trouble meeting demand.
HP (NYSE: HPQ), IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) all rose after HP said demand remains positive.
RealNetworks (NASDAQ: RNWK) jumped 15 percent on a better than expected ruling in an arbitration case with VeriSign (NASDAQ: VRSN).
The Nasdaq rose 11 to 2184, the S&P 500 added 4 to 1095, and the Dow gained 51 to 10,337. Volume declined to 4.12 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.92 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led by a 19-17 margin on the NYSE, while decliners led 14-13 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 51 percent on the NYSE, and 63 percent on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 123-34 on the NYSE, and 44-23 on the Nasdaq.