New York — An analyst's bullish comments about Intel sent tech stocks sharply higher Thursday as Wall Street grew more optimistic about the sector's ability to lead a market recovery.
Analysts said investors interpreted the news as another signal that a tech turnaround had begun despite economic data that suggested business overall remains weak. The broader market also moved higher, with the Dow Jones industrials achieving their best finish in four months.
The Dow closed up 98.74, or nearly 1 percent, at 10,172.14, its strongest performance since Aug. 28, when the index closed at 10,222.03.
"Whenever you can get a story that's positive for technology, it's going to move that sector," said Barry Hyman, chief market strategist at Ehrenkrantz King Nussbaum. "Intel is a large-cap leader in the sector and it needs to participate for there to be a recovery."
Investors bid Intel up $2.52, or 7.6 percent, to $35.52 after a J.P. Morgan analyst recommended the stock because of what he believes are improving business conditions. That assessment gave Wall Street a reason to believe that momentum might be returning to the beleaguered tech sector, which has stagnated for the last year on a mix of terrible earnings and anemic demand from struggling corporations.
The resulting buying spread across technology stocks. Intel competitor Applied Micro Devices rose $2.98, or 18.2 percent, to $19.37. Software maker Oracle also advanced, gaining $1.31, or 9.4 percent, to $15.29.
General Motors gained 71 cents to $49.35, while Ford rose 51 cents to $16.73, after both companies said 2001 would probably be their second-best sales year ever.
But the enthusiasm came at the expense of some other sectors including pharmaceutical and consumer goods.
Merck dropped 73 cents to $59.03, while Procter & Gamble fell 77 cents to $79.23. Both sectors are considered stable, low-risk investments in times of economic uncertainty, but when business is growing and the economy prospers, they sometimes are regarded as unnecessarily conservative choices.
Advancing issues led decliners 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange.
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