Gateway, Hewlett-Packard Rise Amid Enthusiasm for Tech Stocks
NEW YORK -- Microsoft's strong profit stirred enthusiasm for technology stocks.</br></br>Microsoft (Nasdaq) jumped 5 15/16 to 92 1/4 after the software company issued fiscal first-quarter earnings late Tuesday that topped analysts' forecasts. Salomon Smith Barney, praising what it called a "pristine" profit statement, bumped up its fiscal 2000 profit estimate for the company.</br></br>"They played off those Microsoft numbers from the opening bell, and we've seen some good follow-through in the technology sector," said John Manahan, head of trading at Brown Brothers Harriman.</br></br>Gateway rose 5 1/8 to 52, Hewlett-Packard gained 2 13/16 to 76 9/16, and Apple Computer climbed 6 5/8 to 75 1/8 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Even Dell Computer moved higher, gaining 1 1/2 to 40 on Nasdaq. Dell had stirred some profit worries for the technology sector when it warned earlier this week its results would be hurt by rising prices for memory products.</br></br>Strong profit performances from other technology issues contributed to the optimism evident in the session. Computer Associates gained 3 3/4 to 58 1/4 after its fiscal second-quarter profit, released late Tuesday, proved a penny a share better than analysts anticipated.