Technology stocks ranging from Palm Inc. to EMC Corp. got a boost Wednesday as the broader market also advanced following a surprise jump in durable goods data.
A better-than-expected earnings report from business software maker Oracle Corp. Tuesday also signaled improvement for the technology sector, which has seen a drop in demand amid the economic turmoil as companies tightened spending.
Oracle's shares rose $1.36, or 7 percent, to $21.25 in afternoon trading. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has changed hands between $13.80 and $23.62.
Ryan Jacob, portfolio manager of the Jacob Internet Fund at Jacob Asset Management, said a lot of Wednesday's activity was due to Oracle's performance and "a lot of it is just following the general market."
"From my perspective, even though the economic numbers have been relatively mixed, the technology sector has performed relatively well," he said, referring not to the stocks themselves, but to companies' business performance.
Oracle's results were hurt by the strengthening dollar, because a large chunk of its sales come from overseas. But the company said revenue from support contracts helped sales, since companies still need to maintain their older software.
Shares of chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. also climbed, along with larger rival Intel Corp. The companies did not release any major news, though Intel said earlier it has cleared a hurdle in its planned $884 million takeover of software maker Wind River Systems Inc. as a routine federal waiting period expired.
Intel's shares rose 25 cents to $16.06 in afternoon trading. AMD added 10 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $3.65. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Sector Index climbed 5.21, or 2.1 percent, to 258.89.
Palm's shares rose 15 cents to $13.71. RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky raised his target price to $18 from $14. The analyst expects investors to look past soft fiscal fourth-quarter results and focus on the success of the Palm Pre and the WebOS operating system.
Elsewhere, shares of EMC gained 42 cents, or 3.3 percent, to $13 after a Barclays Capital analyst upgraded the data-storage company, predicting more stable sales and gross margins.
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