Stocks rise as technology shares gain
NEW YORK (AP) - The stock market rose Friday, clawing back from three days of declines. Shares of technology companies got a lift after Intel said business demand for computers had picked up.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed four points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,934 as of 2:05 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 24 points, or 0.1 percent, to 16,757. The Nasdaq composite gained 12 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,309.
THE CHIPS ARE UP: Intel jumped $1.92, or 6.9 percent, to $29.88 after the company said late Thursday that sales of business computers have been stronger than expected, and raised its revenue forecast. The company also said it expects higher profit margins. The news made Intel one of the top stock gainers in the S&P 500 index on Friday.
TECH LEADS: Helped by Intel, shares of technology companies saw the highest gains among the 10 industry groups in the S&P 500. The sector rose 0.6 percent, compared with a 0.2 gain for the overall index.
DINNER FOR TWO: OpenTable jumped $33.32, or 47 percent, to $103.7 5 after Priceline agreed to buy the online restaurant reservation company for $2.6 billion. Priceline fell $24.58, or 2 percent, to $1,201.42.
MORE BID ACTION: Clothes retailer Express jumped $2.91, or 21 percent, to $16.47 after the company said it had been approached about a takeover by Sycamore Partners, a New York-based private equity company that specializes in retail investments. Sycamore already owns almost 10 percent of Express' stock.
OIL: The price of crude added modestly to gains from earlier in the week. Crude is rising because Iraq's insurgency threatens to disrupt exports from OPEC's No. 2 oil producer. On Friday, oil nudged up 41 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $106.97 a barrel after a jump of more than $2 the day before. For the week, oil has risen almost 4 percent
ENERGY IMPACT: If the turmoil in Iraq continues and the price of oil keeps rising, U.S. growth in the second half of the year may fall short of current estimates, said David Lafferty, the chief market strategist for Natixis Global Asset Management.
10-YEAR: In U.S. government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year note rose to 2.61 percent early Friday from 2.60 on Thursday. The yield on a bond rises when its price falls.