Stocks Rise After Moderate Rally

NEW YORK – Wall Street staged a turnaround Monday with technology stocks leading the way in hopes of an economic rebound.

The Dow Jones Industrial average closed up 23.04, or 0.2 percent, at 9,982.75, rebounding from a deficit of 55 points earlier in the session.

Broader stock indicators also advanced. The technology-laden Nasdaq composite index was up 38.03, or 2.0 percent, at 1,941.23, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 7.08, or 0.6 percent, to 1,157.42.

The Dow is now more than 21 percent above the 2001 low set Sept. 21 after the terror attacks. A bull market technically is defined as a 20 percent or greater recovery from a low.

Analysts attributed the Dow's stall to investors' doubts that stock market might be rising too much, too quickly. The index has been flirting with the 10,000 level and bull market territory for a week now. A report from the National Bureau of Economic Research confirming that the United States is in a recession added to the debate.

The struggling economy began sliding into recession in March 2001 and its condition was only worsened by the Sept. 11 attacks, the private research group confirmed.

"I think frankly, the market has already priced in a recession," said Robert Baur, head of trading at Invista Capital Management which oversees $24 billion. "It was shortly after the Sept 11 attack that almost all economists on Wall Street officially declared the U.S. in a recession."

Intel rose 81 cents to $31.87, hitting its highest level since early August. The chip giant devised a new structure for transistors -- the tiny switches that make up semiconductors -- in a development it said could lead to microprocessors that run at blazing speeds and consume less power than conventional ones.

The Philadelphia Stock Exchange semiconductor index shot up 4.14 percent. It has surged about 40 percent since Sept. 11.

Taiwan Semiconductor rose 90 cents to $16.60 in U.S. trade. The company raised its 2001 financial forecasts, two months after the world's largest contract chip maker trimmed its estimates during the sector's worst downturn.

Technology stocks were helped by a rally in Europe after Credit Suisse First Boston upgraded Taiwan's personal computer sector, saying the worst was over for global PC demand.

One of the main drags on the Dow was Home Depot, which fell $1.06 to $45.52. The drop came after The Wall Street Journal's "Heard On The Street" column said the home improvement retailer's chief executive will disappoint investors with a warning of slower growth, when he addresses analysts later this week.

Exxon Mobil Corp., a Dow component and the world's largest publicly traded oil company, fell 67 cents to $37.77. Oil prices slipped as there were no signs a production squabble between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC producer Russia would be resolved soon.

Lucent Technologies Inc. fell 35 cents to $8.04 after Morgan Stanley cut its rating on the telecommunications equipment maker, saying the company is fairly valued.

Big gainers included Amazon.com Inc., up $3.13 to $12.21, amid signs that the online superstore's holiday sales may be better than expected.

Enron Corp. was again the most active on the New York Stock Exchange and fell 15 percent on fear its proposed acquisition by rival Dynegy Inc. could be in jeopardy. Dynegy's ability to bargain a lower price or walk away from its deal with Enron is being watched as the energy trader's stock continues to plummet.

Enron slid 73 cents to $4.01. Dynegy lost $1.15 to $39.25.

Advancing issues narrowly led decliners on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume came to 1.08 billion shares. Total trading volume Friday was 273.24 million shares since the market closed early because of the Thanksgiving holiday,

The Russell 2000 index gained 2.80 to 461.22.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 3.4 percent. In Europe, Germany's DAX index dropped 0.7 percent, Britain's FT-SE 100 was up 0.2 percent and France's CAC-40 fell 0.2 percent.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.