Palm, Dell Lead Tech Stocks Higher

PALM (NASDAQ: PALM), Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) and Tellabs (NASDAQ: TLAB) were a few of the tech sector’s stronger names on a day that saw the Nasdaq close back above 2000.

Dell continued to gain ahead of its earnings report later this month, adding another 3.3 percent for a five-day gain of nearly 13 percent.

Palm shares jumped 5.5 percent as fears about the smartphone maker’s competition eased for a day.

Tellabs surged 10 percent on a Morgan Keegan upgrade, while shares of Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) added 2.8 percent on a Baird upgrade. Micron (NYSE: MU) was another gainer in the chip sector, up 3.7 percent.

But the Nasdaq had a few decliners too, as early gains on unexpected economic growth in Europe were restrained by weaker than expected retail sales and persistently high jobless claims in the U.S.

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) ended lower on worries about consumer spending and competition from Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Target (NYSE: TGT). eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) also ended the day lower.

NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) fell 10 percent on its quarterly results and a Credit Suisse downgrade.

The Nasdaq rose 10 to 2009, the S&P 500 gained 7 to 1012, and the Dow rose 36 to 9398. Volume declined to 5.25 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.11 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led by a 25-12 margin on the NYSE, and 15-12 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 74 percent on the NYSE, and 71 percent on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 92-43 on the NYSE, and 65-11 on the Nasdaq.