(Updates to early afternoon, changes byline)
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK, Jan 29 (Reuters) - The Dow and the S&P 500 rose
on Tuesday on expectations the Federal Reserve will again cut
interest rates to shore up the economy, but worries about
technology profits and outlooks limited a broader advance,
causing the Nasdaq to dip in the red.
Data showing a higher-than-expected rise in orders of
durable goods last month tempered recession fears that have
roiled the market in recent weeks and underpinned a rise in the
shares of big manufacturers such as Boeing Co <BA.N>.
Shares of interest-rate-sensitive issues such as banks and
insurers were also standouts, including JPMorgan Chase <JPM.N>
and American International Group <AIG.N>.
The technology sector, however, was dented after EMC Corp
<EMC.N>, the world's biggest maker of corporate storage gear,
said it sees slowing revenue growth this year, and after
disappointing results from EMC's VMware Inc <VMW.N>.
"There are worries of further potential disappointments
from the technology sector," said Michael James, senior trader
at regional investment bank Wedbush Morgan in Los Angeles.
"The majority of the bigger tech names have been
disappointing and as you've seen concerns about the economy
going into a recession you've had significant contraction in
(earnings) multiples."
The Dow Jones industrial average <> was up 43.41
points, or 0.35 percent, at 12,427.30. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> was up 3.26 points, or 0.24 percent, at
1,357.23. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was down 3.83
points, or 0.16 percent, at 2,346.08.
Shares of plane maker Boeing Co <BA.N> led the Dow's
advance with a gain of 1.2 percent to $41.70 on the New York
Stock Exchange, while Caterpillar Inc's <CAT.N> shares gained
1.3 percent to $69.10.
Among financials, shares of Bank of America Corp <BAC.N>,
the largest U.S. bank by market value, rose 1.2 percent to
$41.69. JPMorgan shares gained 2.3 percent, while shares of
insurer AIG gained 2.9 percent.
But on the technology front, shares of Web search leader
Google Inc <GOOG.O> , which is due to post quarterly results on
Thursday, weighed on the Nasdaq with a drop of more than 2
percent to $544.53.
Shares of Internet retailer Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O>, which
is scheduled to post quarterly results after the bell on
Tuesday, fell 4.4 percent to $72.47. Shares of EMC were down
7.2 percent at $15.69 on the NYSE, while those of VMware, a
maker of virtualization software, tumbled 31.9 percent to
$56.48.
The Fed's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee will
announce its rate decision at the end of its two-day meeting on
Wednesday afternoon.
(Editing by Leslie Adler)
