Strong guidance from Nokia sent tech stocks higher on Thursday, and the chip sector soared 5% despite warnings from Texas Instruments
, National Semi
and KLA-Tencor
.
Nokia surged 8% after saying it expects third-quarter earnings of 14-16 cents a share, above 11-cent analyst estimates. Revenues of $8.28-$8.4 billion would exceed $8.04 billion forecasts. The company cited “strong volume growth” in the global device market, but some analysts viewed the good news as more of a company-specific rebound from Nokia’s recent market-share losses.
Investors snapped up shares of chip stocks after warnings from Texas Instruments, KLA-Tencor and National Semi weren’t as bad as feared. TXN and NSM gained more than 10% each, and KLAC rose 4%. Chip stocks have slumped 35% this year, hit by an inventory correction and a broader economic slowdown.
Telecom stocks got a boost after Corning reaffirmed guidance. Corning surged 9%, and shares of JDS Uniphase
gained 8%.
Blue chips ended the day lower on rising oil and import prices, although an unexpected drop in weekly jobless claims provided support.
The Nasdaq gained 19 to 1869, the S&P 500 rose 2 to 1118, and the Dow declined 24 to 10,289. Volume rose to 1.37 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.67 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 20-12 on the NYSE, and 19-10 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 62% on the NYSE, and 81% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 142-10 on the NYSE, and 83-37 on the Nasdaq.
After the close, PeopleSoft surged on a court ruling that Oracle
can proceed with its takeover attempt.
During the day, Volterra , kforce
, Ulticom
and Comverse
surged on earnings news.
eBookers soared 23% on news that it is in talks to be acquired.
CoSine Communications fell 8% after the company said it plans to lay off most of its employees after exploring strategic alternatives.