The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI -0.11%) is up as the technology and health care sectors rally following an early release of the Fed's March meeting minutes. As of 1:15 p.m. EDT the Dow is up 143 points, or 0.98%, to 14,816. The S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.02%) is up 1.2% to 1,587.
The Federal Reserve was supposed to release the Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes at 2 p.m. EDT. However, they were inadvertently released early to some congressional staffers. After discovering the mishap, the Fed released the minutes to all parties. The minutes revealed that there was disagreement over the continued asset purchases under QE3 and that committee members were unsure how fiscal policies would impact the economy. The committee is expected to continue QE3 until there is inflation above 2% or the jobs market significantly strengthens.
Intel (INTC 0.64%) stock is leading the Dow today, up 2.9%. Intel stock has jumped over the past two days for a few reasons. First, on Monday the company previewed its newest Thunderbolt technology, which will be able to move data at 20 Gbs -- double its current speed. Then, on Tuesday, Intel announced that it had sent samples of its newest server chips to customers and, more importantly, that its newest chips would be included in Hewlett-Packard's (HPQ 1.55%) new Moonshot servers.
Investors had been worried that the Moonshot servers would come equipped with ARM's newest chips. Investors are heaving a sigh of relief that Intel chips will initially power the Moonshot servers, as it shows that Intel is staying at the leading edge of the chip market. HP is touting its Moonshot servers for their cost-saving ability. According to studies done by HP, the Moonshot servers use 90% less energy and take up 80% less space than traditional servers, translating into cost savings of nearly 80%.
Last year Intel stock was one of the Dow's worst performers, finishing down 15%. The drop in share price raised Intel's dividend yield high enough to get it on the list of the 2013 Dogs of the Dow. So far in 2013, Intel has missed out on the Dow's 13% rally, rising just 5.5% as of yesterday. While some investors believe Intel stock represents a good value now, others see Intel losing out in a more mobile world.
