Wall Street: Monday mid-session
STOCKS jumped sharply in mid-session trade, led by the technology sector, as expectations for an economic rebound in the second half of the year fed investors' appetite for equities.
Microsoft rose following a newspaper report that it is considering paying its shareholders a special dividend of more than $10bn.
Semiconductor-related shares also gave the market a boost amid a better outlook for the global chip sector and solid results from Taiwan's TSMC, the world's largest contract microchip maker.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 161 points, or 1.78%, at 9,231.21. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 16.47 points, or 1.67%, at 1,002.17. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index was up 40.81 points, or 2.45%, at 1,704.27.
Microsoft and semiconductor manufacturer Intel were the biggest percentage gainers in the Dow and were lifting the Nasdaq, as well. Microsoft rose 92 cents, or 3.5%, to $27.42, while Intel gained, 65 cents, or 3%, to $22.37.
Deutsche Securities revised up its outlook for the global chip market to 3.8% value growth in 2003 from its previous estimate of a 3.1% decline. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange's semiconductor index gained 3.6%.
Traders also pointed to an upbeat report on technology spending from Goldman Sachs. Goldman said that its latest IT Spending Survey, taken in mid-June, showed general improvement in spending intentions for the first time since the inception of the survey series in the fall of 2001.
