A sector upgrade gave technology shares a modest boost on Monday, but investors remained jittery over the direction of interest rates and corporate earnings.
EMC , Network Appliance
and IBM
were some of the beneficiaries of upgrades from UBS, which said that technology should begin to outperform as business investment picks up.
But investors remained cautious ahead of corporate earnings season, which begins in earnest next week. Stocks started the day lower, but reversed course to end the day with modest gains.
Tellabs lost 4% on a warning, and eBay
fell 3.5% on concern over the pace of listings.
Therma-Wave soared 29% on a takeover offer from KLA-Tencor
.
ON Semi rose 7% on a Lehman brothers upgrade, while Microsemi
shed 4% on a downgrade from the firm.
Telestone gained on contract wins.
After the close, Sprint Nextel fell on its outlook and layoff plans.
The Nasdaq added 4 to 2438, the S&P 500 rose 3 to 1412, and the Dow climbed 25 to 12,423. Volume declined to 2.76 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.97 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 19-13 on the NYSE, and by a few issues on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 60% on the NYSE, and 63% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 125-21 on the NYSE, and 92-53 on the Nasdaq.