NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
U.S. stocks gained early Friday, lifted by Dell's solid earnings and a snap back after two sessions of declines.
After 10 minutes of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average (down 123.73 to 9,814.59, Charts), the Standard & Poor's 500 (down 12.56 to 1,063.23, Charts) index and the Nasdaq composite (down 29.93 to 1,752.49, Charts) all rose, with the Nasdaq the most buoyant.
Dell (DELL: unchanged at $33.17, Research, Estimates) reported earnings late Thursday of 31 cents per share, up from 24 cents a year earlier and in line with estimates, due to strong demand for its PCs, among other factors. Dell also said its results will meet analysts' forecasts for the third quarter.
While analysts argued that Dell's earnings were reflective of how well Dell is doing, rather than the broader tech sector, the earnings nonetheless helped lift some of the more beaten-down tech stocks.
Stocks -- particularly in the tech sector -- tumbled the last few sessions after Cisco Systems (CSCO: unchanged at $17.79, Research, Estimates), and then Hewlett-Packard (HPQ: unchanged at $16.95, Research, Estimates) both reported earnings and issued forecasts that were less bullish than some had hoped. Investors already sensitive to signs of a corporate profit slowdown seized upon these results as a confirmation of such concerns.
Oil prices remained near record highs, with light crude futures in electronic trading dipping just below Thursday's record of $45.75. Brent crude oil futures gained 19 cents to $42.48 a barrel in London.
Reports were released before the start of trade Friday on producer prices and the trade gap.
The producer price index for July rose 0.1 percent, short of the expectation for a rise of 0.2 percent. PPI fell 0.3 percent in June. The "core" PPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.1 percent in July, as expected, after rising 0.2 percent in June.
A separate report showed that the U.S. trade gap ballooned to a record $55.8 billion in June, surpassing estimates, due in part to surging energy costs.
Shortly after the open, the University of Michigan releases its first tally of consumer sentiment. The August index is expected to show a reading of 97.5, versus 96.7 in July.
Treasury prices rose, pushing the 10-year note yield down to 4.21 percent from 4.25 percent late Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions. The dollar inched higher versus the yen and euro.
In global trade, Asian markets closed mostly lower, and European markets were mixed at midday.
|
