Upgrades Boost Techs

Tech stocks posted solid gains Monday on analyst upgrades of HP , Dell and Yahoo .

Dell and HP climbed about 1% each after Citigroup said the companies are unlikely to be affected by falling motherboard demand, which hit chip shares Friday on a report by Goldman Sachs. HP and Dell will report quarterly results in two weeks.

Yahoo, meanwhile, gained 2.4% after Merrill Lynch upgraded the company to buy, saying the stock is at an attractive entry point.

Verizon lost 3% on its results, weighed down by higher costs and Internet subscriber growth concerns.

American Power Conversion soared on a buyout offer.

WebSideStory lost ground on news of a new CEO.

Baidu gained a day ahead of its results.

The broader market was mixed Monday, as weak consumer spending reports were offset by better than expected personal income and inflation reports.

The Nasdaq rose 13 to 2363, the S&P 500 added half a point to 1378, and the Dow slipped 4 to 12,086. Volume declined to 2.27 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.8 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 17-15 on the NYSE, and 16-13 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 47% on the NYSE, and 74% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 164-19 on the NYSE, and 123-43 on the Nasdaq.