By Rex Crum
Technology stocks closed with broad gains Friday as the sector
joined in a market-wide rally that was spurred on by a
better-than-expected report on the nation's job-loss figures.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) climbed 27 points,
or 1.4%, to close at 2,000 for the first time in nearly a year. For
the week, the Nasdaq rose by 22 points, or 1.1%.
The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) ended the day up by
1%, but the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) dipped into the
red.
Leading the rally were the job-loss figures from the Labor
Department, which showed the U.S. economy losing 247,000 non-farm
jobs in July. The losses weren't as bad as had been expected, and
the U.S. unemployment rate fell back to 9.4%.
Among tech stocks, graphics-chip maker Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) rose
59 cents a share, or 4.5%, to $13.71.
Late Thursday, Nvidia reported a second-quarter loss of $105.3
million, or 19 cents a share, on revenue of $776.5 million.
Excluding one-time items, however, Nvidia earned 7 cents a share,
while analysts had forecast the company a loss of 2 cents a
share.
Chief Executive Jen-Hsun Huang said Nvidia's business was
showing signs of recovering from a recent downturn.
Other gains came from Apple Inc. (AAPL), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT),
Dell Inc. (DELL), Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), Intel Corp. (INTC),
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and IBM Corp. (IBM).