Stocks maintained last week’s momentum Monday, as technology shares surged and the oil sector was up on a brokerage upgrade.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 51.65 points, or 0.5 percent, at 10,523.56, its highest level since April 7. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 4.58 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,193.86. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 10.23 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,056.65.
Investors were encouraged by a report that Apple Computer Inc. was in talks to use Intel Corp. chips in its computers, news that could signal the biggest shift in the Mac’s makeup since it came out in 1984 and could make the machines less expensive. Software stocks also received a boost from analysts at Goldman Sachs, which upgraded the entire sector.
And shares of oil companies were also up for the day, following an upgrade of the sector by Sanford Bernstein. The broker raised ratings on Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips Co. and Chevron Corp.
Analysts tied some of the market’s gains to the continued low price of oil. U.S. crude futures are nearly $9 off their $58.28 record high hit in early April. Light, sweet crude for July delivery rose 51 cents to settle at $49.16 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Among local movers, shares of Grill Concepts, Inc. gained 7.9 percent to $2.18 when the L.A.-based Daily Grill restaurant operator reported improved restated operating results for the fourth quarter. The company adjusted its results to conform to lease accounting policies. The company also filed its Form 10-Q for the full year of 2004.
And Occidental Petroleum Corp. rose 2.4 percent to $69.66 after the L.A.-based oil company announced on Saturday that it may partner with Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Co. to develop a second oil field in Oman after their joint venture earlier this month won a $2 billion project.
On the down side, shares of Magnetek Inc. fell 3.6 percent to $2.14 after the L.A.-based firm said that it had been served with an order to begin the process of confirming the $23.4 million award that inventor Ole K. Nilssen won in a patent-related arbitration decision a couple weeks ago. Magnetek said it is still in discussions with Nilssen to work out an agreement.
