US STOCKS-Oil, technology gains boost Wall Street

                                
 (Updates to midday, changes byline)
                                
 * Semiconductor shares rise after upgraded opinion
                                
 * Amazon.com advances on broker action
                                
 * Big oil company shares continue higher
                                
 By Cal Mankowski
                                
 NEW YORK, May 19 (Reuters) - Wall Street stocks rose on
Monday, driving the Dow Jones industrials up 1 percent as
investors bet that the U.S. economy will avoid sinking into
recession, giving a boost to growth-sensitive sectors such as
transport and technology.
                                
 Shares of energy companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp
<XOM.N>, were boosted by near-record crude oil prices. Oil
futures traded at $126.50 per barrel, below Friday's record of
$127.82.
                                
 The Dow Jones transportation average <.DJT> was last up 2.4
percent and hit a record high. Shares of big manufacturers,
including Caterpillar Inc <CAT.N>, also headed higher.
Caterpillar was up 2.35 percent to $85.67.
                                
 Economic data in recent days has signaled that the economy
is likely to avoid a debilitating recession, including a report
on Monday from the Conference Board, a private business
research group, which said its Leading Economic Indicators
index rose 0.1 percent in April, the same as in March.
                                
 Shares of Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O> shot up 10.25 percent to
$84.30 after Goldman Sachs raised its price target on the stock
and added the Internet retailer to its "Americas conviction
buy" list.
                                
 "The market is starting to think that we're not going to
get the prolonged, deep recession that the subprime crisis
seemed to imply," said Brian Gendreau, investment strategist
with ING Investment Management-Americas in New York.
                                
 "All along it has been a mixed economy with some sectors
such as housing and finance in recession and others such as
technology and industrials not in recession," Gendreau said.
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 121.31
points, or 0.93 percent, at 13,108.11. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> was up 11.62 points, or 0.82 percent, at
1,436.97. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 16.22
points, or 0.64 percent, at 2,545.07.
                                
 Investors snapped up technology shares on hopes that
business spending will hold up, with shares of Oracle Corp
<ORCL.O>, the world's second-largest software maker, up 3.9
percent and among the top advancers on the Nasdaq.
                                
 Goldman Sachs raised the U.S. semiconductor sector to an
"attractive" rating from "neutral" according to
theflyonthewall.com. An index of semiconductor stocks <.SOXX>
was up 1.1 percent.
                                
 Exxon shares rose 1.58 percent to $94.13, helping drive the
S&P 500 above its 200-day moving average, a key trend measure,
for the first time since late December.
                                
 Chevron Corp <CVX.N> gained 2.26 percent to $102.64.
                                
 Oracle shares rose 4.3 percent to 22.62 on the Nasdaq, a
day after financial weekly publication Barron's said the stock
was poised to resume its long-term ascent after stagnating this
year. For more, see [ID:nN18495242]
                                
 Lowe's Companies <LOW.N> shares dropped 2.3 percent to
$24.31 on the NYSE after the second-largest U.S. home
improvement chain posted a drop in quarterly profit and slashed
its full-year outlook. [ID:nWNAS4576]
 (Additional reporting by Ellis Mnyandu; editing by Gary
Crosse)