* Barclays raises price target on IBM ahead of earnings
* Kimberly-Clark to buy I-Flow for $324 million
* Dow up 0.8 pct; S&P 500 up 0.6 pct; Nasdaq up 0.7 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click []
(Updates close with Dow at a 2009 closing high)
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK, Oct 9 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed on Friday,
with the Dow hitting a closing high for 2009, as investors
anticipated positive news from next week's key earnings reports
and bullish broker comments boosted tech shares.
U.S. stocks achieved their best weekly gains since July and
snapped a two-week losing streak. The five-day rally pushed the
Dow Jones industrial average up 4 percent for the week, while
the Standard & Poor's 500 advanced 4.5 percent and the Nasdaq
gained 4.5 percent.
In Friday's session, International Business Machines Corp
<IBM.N> rose 3 percent to $125.93 and led the Dow higher after
Barclays Capital raised its price target to $140 from $119, and
upgraded the information technology hardware sector to
"positive" from "neutral."
Separately, Deutsche Bank predicted late Thursday that
semiconductor companies would report upside surprises in their
earnings for the past three months.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor index <.SOXX> climbed 3.3
percent, while another Dow component Intel <INTC.O> rose 1.5
percent to $20.17.
Both IBM and Intel are scheduled to report quarterly
results next week.
"The mood is ... reasonably optimistic (on earnings) which
is part of the reason why we have seen 3-4 percent gains so far
this week," said Fred Dickson, market strategist at D.A.
Davidson & Co in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> ended up 78.07
points, or 0.80 percent, at 9,864.94. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index <.SPX> gained 6.01 points, or 0.56 percent, to 1,071.49.
The Nasdaq Composite Index <> rose 15.35 points, or 0.72
percent, to 2,139.28.
The S&P 500 has climbed nearly 60 percent from a 12-year
closing low in early March.
Two large merger deals attracted investor attention on
Friday.
Kimberly-Clark <KMB.N> said it plans to acquire I-Flow Corp
<IFLO.O>, for $324 million, sending I-Flow shares up 7 percent
to $12.58 on Nasdaq. Kimberly-Clark rose 0.3 percent to $59.26
on the New York Stock Exchange. []
Citigroup <C.N> agreed to sell its Phibro commodities
trading business to Occidental Petroleum Corp <OXY.N>. Citi's
stock fell 0.4 percent to $4.63 while Occidental's stock was
down 0.7 percent at $79.54. []
According to the Commerce Department, the U.S. trade
deficit unexpectedly narrowed in August, as trade in services
pushed exports slightly higher and imports fell by a
fractionally larger amount. []
Stocks briefly dipped at the open on Friday, pressured by a
rebounding U.S. dollar after Fed Chairman Bernanke said the Fed
will eventually have to start tightening its monetary policy as
the economy heals.
Volume was below average on the New York Stock Exchange,
with 989.9 million shares changing hands, under last year's
estimated daily average of 1.49 billion.
On the Nasdaq, about 1.96 billion shares traded, also below
last year's daily average of 2.28 billion.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by
a ratio of about 3 to 2, while on the Nasdaq, about two stocks
rose for every one that fell.
