* Dow, S&P post seventh gain in eight sessions
* U.S. wholesale inventories surge in July
* Forecasts from National Semi, Texas Instruments weigh
* Dow up 0.5 pct; S&P 500 up 0.5 pct; Nasdaq up 0.3 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news see []
(Updates to close)
By Edward Krudy
NEW YORK, Sept 10 (Reuters) - The Dow and S&P 500 closed
the week with their seventh gain in eight sessions in a
turnaround period for stocks that has seen investors' worst
fears about the economy start to dissipate.
But the gains were made on the lightest trading volume of
the year so far.
The S&P 500 has rallied nearly 6 percent since the end of
August, a month when shares skidded as investors worried that
the economy was headed back into recession. The gradual
improvement in economic data continued on Friday as U.S.
wholesale inventories surged by the largest amount in two years
in July.
"That's going to support the probability that the
third-quarter GDP is at least going to be a positive number,"
said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Robert W.
Baird & Co in Nashville. "All of a sudden the numbers started
to turn just enough to say that we're not going to have a
double dip, and that forced a lot of money back into the
market."
Energy companies gained as crude oil futures <CLc1> jumped
3 percent to $76.55 per barrel after the forced shutdown of the
biggest pipeline supplying Canadian oil to refineries in the
U.S. Midwest and to a key storage hub in Oklahoma. For details
see []. The PHLX oil services sector index <.OSX>
gained 2.8 percent.
But the technology sector limited gains and the Nasdaq came
under pressure after National Semiconductor Corp <NSM.N> and
Texas Instruments Inc <TXN.N> issued weak quarterly financial
targets, highlighting continued stress in that sector. National
Semi tumbled 6.4 percent, and TI gave up 0.6 percent. For
details, see [].
The Dow Jones industrial average <> gained 47.53
points, or 0.46 percent, to 10,462.77. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> rose 5.37 points, or 0.49 percent, to
1,109.55. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> added 6.28 points,
or 0.28 percent, to 2,242.48.
For the week the Dow closed up 0.1 percent, the S&P 500
gained 0.5 percent, while the Nasdaq rose 0.4 percent. The
technology heavy Nasdaq has risen for six of the last seven
trading days.
The PHLX semiconductor index <.SOX> dropped 1.4 percent. On
the Nasdaq, cell phone chip supplier Qualcomm Inc <QCOM.O> was
the biggest drag, falling 1.2 percent to $40.42.
Occidental Petroleum Corp <OXY.N> gained 0.8 percent to
$78.20 and National Oilwell Varco Inc <NOV.N> added 3 percent
to $41.10.
Indexes traded in a low-volume, tight range in a week
shortened by the Labor Day holiday and with trading desks
reduced in numbers because of the Jewish new year celebrations
on Thursday and Friday.
Combined volume on the New York Stock Exchange, the
American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq was 5.68 billion shares, far
below last year's daily average of 9.65 billion.
Stocks remained in the upper end of their trading range of
recent months, and analysts said the market lacked a catalyst
to move much higher. Technicians are looking at the 1,130 level
on the S&P 500 as a potential breakout threshold.
"Nothing is exciting until 1,130 on the S&P 500. That's the
number we're trying to push through," said Linda Duessel,
market strategist at Federated Investors in Pittsburgh.
Some investors say a breakout through 1,130 could take the
S&P 500 up to 1,250 by year's end.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by
a ratio of nearly two to one, while on the Nasdaq, about five
stocks rose for every four that fell.
(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Kenneth Barry)
