By Benjamin Pimentel
The tech sector began the week with modest gains on Monday,
powered by advances in shares of Google Inc. and Advanced Micro
Devices.
Investor interest in AMD and arch-rival Intel also heightened as
the two chip behemoths geared up for their quarterly reports, with
analysts anticipating signs of a strengthening semiconductor
market.
AMD (AMD) was up more than 5% as UBS upgraded the chip maker's
rating to buy from neutral, citing improving PC demand and other
factors.
Analyst Uche Orji said the upgrade was based partly on "improved
near term expected growth as our recent checks show that a PC
market tailwind is lifting both Intel and AMD."
Intel (INTC), which reports quarterly results on Tuesday, was up
1.7%. AMD is scheduled to report on Thursday.
Bank of America/Merrill Lynch analyst Sumit Dhanda urged
investors to "think big" in anticipation of upbeat results from
Intel, the world's biggest semiconductor company.
"Sales are poised to exceed expectations," Dhanda said in a
note, adding that investors should "expect outlook well ahead of
consensus."
Meanwhile, Google Inc. (GOOG) gained more than 1.5% as three
brokers raised their price estimates for the Internet giant.
"Discussions with advertising agencies, including a dinner we
hosted with senior agency executives, point to rising spending on
Google since June, led by travel, clothing and home improvement
advertisers," Goldman Sachs analyst James Mitchell said in a
note.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) was up 0.4% at 2,147, while
the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) rose 0.5%. The
Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) was ahead 1.7%.
Other major tech players advanced, including Oracle Corp.
(ORCL), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Juniper Networks (JNPR).
Meanwhile, SanDisk Corp. (SNDK) fell more than 2% as UBS
downgraded the chip maker's rating to sell from neutral, citing
pricing pressures and "a seasonal demand peak in October/November
that could limit further average selling price increases."
Also in the red were Nvidia Corp. (NVDA), Dell Inc. (DELL) and
Amazon.com (AMZN).