US STOCKS-Tech jumps on Dell optimism; broader market flat
ju4 wa4i dia4n zo1ng he2 ba4o da4o :\n  (Adds volume in last two paragraphs)\n* Tech advances after upbeat Dell, Marvell earnings\n* Nasdaq ends month of May up 4.6 percent\n* Oil price sparks caution, and Dow closes slightly lower\nBy Ellis Mnyandu\nNEW YORK, May 30 (Reuters) - U.S. technology shares rose on\nFriday as strong results from computer maker Dell Inc <DELL.O>\nsignaled that business and consumer spending was holding up,\ndriving the Nasdaq to end the month up 4.6 percent.\nRising oil prices, however, spurred uneasiness, limiting\nWall Street's gains, with the S&P 500 <.SPX> rising only\nslightly and the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> falling\nslightly.\nSince oil prices hit a record above $135 barrel last week,\ninvestors remain concerned about the effect of soaring fuel\ncosts on inflation and on consumer spending, a key driver of\neconomic growth.\nIn addition, data on Friday showed that consumer confidence\nfell to a 28-year low in May.\nStill, Dell shares jumped more than 5 percent, putting the\nstock among the Nasdaq composite index's top boosters, along\nwith chip designer Marvell Technology Group Ltd <MRVL.O>, up\nmore than 23 percent, thanks to stronger-than-expected\nearnings.\nThe semiconductor index <.SOXX>, up 2.1 percent, notched\nits second straight monthly advance, capping its longest\nmonthly winning streak since October 2006.\n"The strength of Dell's numbers was a pleasant surprise,"\nsaid Georges Yared, founder and chief investment officer at\nYared Investment Research in Wayzata, Minnesota.\n"What this demonstrates is that technology spending is very\nstrong globally. It may not be as strong domestically, but U.S.\nweakness is being offset by global demand. So tech is probably\npositioned now for a very good second quarter."\nThe Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> ended down 7.90\npoints, or 0.06 percent, at 12,638.32. The Standard & Poor's\n500 Index <.SPX> finished up 2.12 points, or 0.15 percent, at\n1,400.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> closed up 14.34\npoints, or 0.57 percent, at 2,522.66.\nFor the week, the Dow ended up 1.3 percent, while the\nNasdaq climbed 3.2 percent and the S&P 500 gained 1.8 percent.\nThe Nasdaq's 4.6 percent rise for the month of May marked\nits third straight monthly advance and was its second-strongest\nmonth this year. The Dow ended the month down 1.4 percent,\nwhile the S&P 500 rose 1.1 percent, registering its second\nstraight monthly climb.\nTECH LEADERSHIP\nThe strength in technology came a week after the tech\nsector overtook financials as a leading constituent of the S&P\nDell shares finished at $23.06 on Nasdaq, while Marvell\nshares rose to $17.36. Contributing most to the Nasdaq's rise\nwere shares of iPod and iPhone maker Apple Inc <AAPL.O>, which\nclosed up 1.1 percent at $188.75.\nShares of Cisco Systems Inc <CSCO.O>, whose routers and\nother networking gear form a backbone of corporate networks,\nwere the top tech contributor to the S&P 500's rise, up 2\npercent at $26.72 on Nasdaq.\nComputer maker Hewlett-Packard Co <HPQ.N> led the Dow's\ntech components with a gain of 0.3 percent to $47.06 on the New\nYork Stock Exchange.\nShares of American International Group Inc <AIG.N> , the\nworld's largest insurer, were another Dow standout, finishing\nup 1.9 percent at $36.00 on the NYSE after Morgan Stanley said\nthe recent decline in its stock was overdone and raised its\nrating. For details, see [ID:nBNG272225]\nAIG's gain bucked a downward trend across the financial\nsector as investors locked in profits after Thursday's strong\nadvance.\nShares of Bank of America Corp <BAC.N>, the No. 2 U.S.\nbank, ended down 1.7 percent at $34.01 on the NYSE. Shares of\nJPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N>, the No. 3 U.S. bank, declined 1.3\npercent to $43.00, also on the NYSE.\nEnergy shares also fell on profit taking, with Exxon Mobil\nCorp <XOM.N> ending down 0.7 percent at $88.76 on the NYSE.\nCOSTCO DROPS, COCA-COLA LOSES FIZZ\nShares of consumer-oriented companies like retailers also\nfeatured among the day's top drags, with shares of Costco\nWholesale Corp <COST.O>, the leading U.S. warehouse club\noperator, down more than 2 percent at $71.32 after Piper\nJaffray cut its rating on the stock.\nShares of Coca-Cola Co <KO.N>, the world's largest\nsoft-drink company, declined 1.1 percent to $57.26 on the NYSE,\nmaking the stock the Dow's biggest weight, while rival PepsiCo\nInc <PEP.N> slipped 0.8 percent to $68.30.\nU.S. crude oil <CLc1> gained 73 cents, or 0.6 percent, to\nsettle at $127.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile\nExchange.\nIn economic news, the core personal consumption\nexpenditures price index -- the Federal Reserve's preferred\nmeasure of inflation -- moderated in April from the previous\nmonth, easing inflation fears.\nBut a Reuters/University of Michigan gauge of consumer\nconfidence fell to a 28-year low in May, keeping stock gains in\ncheck. A separate report showed business activity in the U.S.\nMidwest contracted for May for the fourth consecutive month,\nbut the rate of downturn moderated.\nFriday's volume was tepid, as it has been throughout the\nweek.\n"The whole week really hasn't been a great volume week.\nIt's almost like a lot of people made this past Memorial Day a\nfive-day holiday instead of one day," said Victor Pugliese,\ndirector of listed equity trading at Broadpoint Securities in\nSan Francisco.\nAbout 1.41 billion shares changed hands on the New York\nStock Exchange, below last year's estimated daily average of\nroughly 1.90 billion, while on Nasdaq about 2.20 billion shares\ntraded, above last year's daily average of 2.17 billion.\nAdvancing stocks outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of\nabout 5 to 4 on the NYSE and by 6 to 5 on Nasdaq.\n(Editing by Leslie Adler)\n((Ellis.Mnyandu@thomsonreuters.com; 1 646 223 6085; Reuters\nMessaging:ellis.mnyandu.reuters.com@reuters.net))\n((Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available\nfor: * 3000 Xtra: visit http://topnews.session.rservices.com*\nBridgeStation: view story .134 For more information on\nTop News: http://topnews.reuters.com))\nKeywords: MARKETS STOCKS\nTo access running updates on what's moving U.S. stocks double\nclick on [STXNEWS/US]\nFor other U.S. market data and news, click on codes in\nbrackets:\nU.S. Equities speed guide.US/EQUITY>\nS&P 500 index SPX>\nDow Jones industrial average.DJI>\nNasdaq Composite index.IXIC>\nNasdaq 100.NDX>\nRussell 2000 small cap.RUT>\nS&P major sectors.0#.GSPMAJOR>\nNYSE most active.AV.N>\nNasdaq most active.AV.O>\nTop NYSE pct gainers.PG.N>\nTop NYSE pct losers.PL.N>\nTop Nasdaq pct gainers.PG.O>\nTop Nasdaq pct losers.PL.O>\n52 week highs:\nNYSE.t.YH.N>Nasdaq.t.YH.O>\n52 week lows:\nNYSE.t.YL.N>Nasdaq.t.YL.O>\nMain global stock indexes and market reports:\nFTSE Eurotop 300 .....<.FTEU3>European report EU]\nNikkei 225.N225>Tokyo report.T]\nFTSE 100.FTSE>London report.L]\nXetra DAX.GDAXI>Frankfurt market stories[.F]\nCAC-40.FCHI>Paris market stories...[.PA]\nWorld Indices.0#.INDEX>\nReuters survey of world bourse outlook.EQUITYPOLL1>\nU.S. IPO diary.IPO/]\nU.S. Asset Allocation Table.US/ASSET]\nMore Reuters News on equities at a glance:\nEquities E] US company news.TOP/EQU]\nKey non-equities market reports:\nForeign exchange.FRX/]\nOil.O/R]\nUS Treasuries.US/N]\nInternational bonds.EUB/]\nGold.GOL/X] or [GOL/]\nCRB index of commodity futures.CRB/]