US STOCKS-Tech shares lift Wall St ahead of earnings season

                                
  
                                
 * Barclays raises price target on IBM ahead of earnings
                                
 * Kimberly-Clark to buy I-Flow for $324 million
                                
 * Dow up 0.4 pct; S&P 500 up 0.2 pct; Nasdaq up 0.4 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news, click [STXNEWS/US]
 (Updates to late afternoon, changes byline)
                                
 By Angela Moon
                                
 NEW YORK, Oct 9 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose slightly on
Friday, extending their four-day winning streak as investors
anticipated some positive news out of next week's key earnings
reports, while bullish broker comments gave a boost to tech
shares.
                                
 International Business Machines Corp <IBM.N>, rose 2.7
percent to $125.61, leading 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 2.7
percent, while another Dow component Intel <INTC.O> rose 1.6
percent to $20.20.
                                
 Both IBM and Intel are scheduled to report quarterly
results next week.
                                
 Hewlett-Packard Co <HPQ.N> also gained, adding 1.8 percent
to $47.30.
                                
 "At this point, investors are staying back to watch how
next week will turn out," said Fred Dickson, market strategist
at D.A. Davidson & Co in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
                                
 "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."
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was last up 41.94
points, or 0.43 percent, to 9,828.81. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index <.SPX> edged up 1.91 points, or 0.18 percent, to
1,067.39. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> added 7.63 points,
or 0.36 percent, to 2,131.56.
                                
 Research in Motion <RIMM.O> also lifted tech shares after
Robert W. Baird upgraded the stock to "outperform" on upcoming
product launches. The stock rose 0.7 percent to $69.17. For
details, see [ID:nBNG452664]
                                
 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 $12.57. But Kimberly-Clark was down 0.08 percent at $59.01.
[ID:nN0947524]
                                
 Citigroup <C.N> agreed to sell its Phibro commodities
trading business to Occidental Petroleum Corp <OXY.N>. Citi's
shares fell 1.1 percent to $4.60 while Occidental's stock was
down 1.1 percent at $79.20. [ID:nN0930601]
                                
 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. [ID:nN0948066]
                                
 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.
                                
 The S&P 500, which has climbed nearly 60 percent from a
12-year closing low in early March, was on track to reverse a
two-week losing streak, and headed for its best weekly gains
since July.