US STOCKS-Wall St advances but remains range-bound

                                

                                
 * Energy shares pressured by decline in crude oil prices
                                
 * Kraft shares rise after revenue forecast
                                
 * Semiconductors slip after downgrades
                                
 * Indexes up: Dow 0.4 pct, S&P 0.4 pct, Nasdaq 0.5 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US]
  (Updates to close)
                                
 By Chuck Mikolajczak
                                
 NEW YORK, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Wall Street advanced on
Wednesday but remained hemmed in a recent trading range as
disappointing economic data hindered the S&P 500 from breaking
through a stubborn technical level.
                                
 Markets were pressured early by a report showing a measure
of New York state business conditions slipped to the lowest
level in more than a year, while industrial output rose at a
slower rate in August. [ID:nN15145257]
                                
 The S&P found support shortly after the reports at its
200-day moving average, climbing back above the 1,115 level.
                                
 But the benchmark index was once again unable to pierce the
1,130 threshold, seen as a key resistance level by analysts,
which, if breached, could spark further buying.
                                
 "Pretty much everything was down across the board as far as
the data, and the market really didn't flinch. It recovered
quite nicely once the bell rang," said Dan Cook, senior market
analyst at IG Markets in Chicago.
                                
 "We are due for a serious test of that 1,130 this week, and
we should get a determination there. Maybe we are just taking a
pause before that next charge begins."
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 46.24
points, or 0.44 percent, to 10,572.73. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> rose 3.97 points, or 0.35 percent, to
1,125.07. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> climbed 11.55
points, or 0.50 percent, to 2,301.32.
                                
 Among the top decliners, energy shares were pressured by a
fall in crude oil prices and technology shares lost ground
after some bearish analyst comments.
                                
 Equities were little moved after the Japanese government
intervened in global currency markets to sell yen for the first
time in six years, though the U.S. dollar climbed. For details,
see [ID:nN15153809]
                                
 October crude futures <CLc1> settled down 1 percent to
$76.02 per barrel, while the S&P Energy index <.GSPE> lost 0.2
percent. [ID:nN15122433]
                                
 Chevron Corp <CVX.N> slipped 0.4 percent to $79.21 and was
among the top decliners on the Dow.
                                
 Fellow Dow component Kraft Foods Inc <KFT.N> gained 1.7
percent to $31.59 after saying it would squeeze another $1
billion in revenue from its global business by 2013 as its
North American business faces challenges. [ID:nN15130871]
                                
 Semiconductors edged lower after Goldman Sachs downgraded
chipmakers Micron Technology Inc <MU.O> to "neutral" and Maxim
Integrated Products Inc <MXIM.O> to "sell."
                                
 Micron shares lost 4.5 percent to $6.94 and Maxim shed 0.5
percent to $16.75. The Philadelphia semiconductor index <.SOX>
fell 0.3 percent. [ID:nSGE68E0ET]
                                
 Volume was light with about 6.6 billion shares traded on
the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and
Nasdaq, well below last year's estimated daily average of 9.65
billion.
                                
 Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by
about 1.1 to 1, while on the Nasdaq, advancers beat decliners
four to three.
  (Editing by Padraic Cassidy)