US stocks: Markets up on Fed, Intel lifts Nasdaq

NEW YORK - US stocks rose on Thursday, helped by a positive view of the economy from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, while technology shares rallied in anticipation of good results from Intel Corp.'s business update.

Semiconductor shares gained ahead of Intel's mid-quarter outlook, with the No. 1 chipmaker's stock up 2.2 per cent at US$27.70. Altera Corp. was up 1.7 per cent at US$22.13 and Applied Materials Inc. was up 3 per cent at US$17.40.

After the closing bell, Intel said its sees second-quarter revenue at the high end of its expectations and raised its gross margin forecast, as many investors had anticipated.

Still, Intel's shares fell nearly 1 per cent to US$27.45 on the Inet electronic brokerage system.

Investors took comfort from Greenspan's testimony before a congressional committee, where he noted that the US economy was on "reasonably firm footing." He also said the central bank should be able to keep raising interest rates at a "measured" pace.

"For the moment, the market is worrying about whether economic growth is too slow, and Greenspan told us that the risk of the economy falling off a cliff is fairly low," Anthony Chan, senior economist, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, said. "You got a relief reaction."

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 26.16 points, or 0.25 per cent, to end at 10,503.02 and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 6.26 points, or 0.52 per cent, to finish at 1,200.93. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 16.73 points, or 0.81 per cent, to close at 2,076.91.

Trading moderate

Trading was moderate, with 1.43 billion shares changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange, near the 1.46 billion daily average for last year. About 1.66 billion shares were traded on Nasdaq, below the 1.81 billion daily average last year.

The number of stocks rising outnumbered those declining on the NYSE by a ratio of about 9 to 7. On Nasdaq, advancers led decliners by about 3 to 2.

US crude oil for July delivery ended up US$1.74 at US$54.28 a barrel, on concerns that a tropical storm may disrupt production.

Overall, rising crude prices create concern about high fuel costs hurting companies' bottom lines. But the gains in oil also sparked advances in energy shares.

Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest publicly traded oil company, was up 3 per cent, or US$1.71, at US$58.44. Rival Chevron Corp. was up 2.2 per cent, or US$1.18, at US$56.01, and ConocoPhillips rose 3.2 per cent, or US$1.76, to US$56.26.

Shares of FedEx Corp. dropped 2.3 per cent, or US$2.08, to US$87.62 and United Parcel Service Inc. fell 1.6 per cent, or US$1.16, to US$71.20 after Morgan Stanley lowered its earnings forecast for FedEx and cut its investment rating on UPS.

Meanwhile, Google Inc. gained 2.4 per cent, or US$6.75, to US$286.31 on Nasdaq after Merrill Lynch raised its 2006 revenue target on the Web search leader.

H&R Block Inc. surged to a 15-month high after the largest US tax preparer topped forecasts for fourth-quarter profit and projected fiscal 2006 profit exceeding analysts' views. The shares rose nearly 11 per cent, or US$5.53, to US$56.18.

- REUTERS