US STOCKS-Tech sector leads Wall St higher

                                
  
                                
 * Oracle shares jump 2.4 after target price hike
                                
 * U.S. retail sales unexpectedly fall in December
                                
 * Initial jobless claims rise in latest week
                                
 * Dow up 0.3 pct, S&P up 0.2 pct, Nasdaq up 0.4 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news, click [STXNEWS/US]
 (Updates to close)
                                
 By Rodrigo Campos
                                
 NEW YORK, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Technology shares lifted Wall
Street on Thursday as investors bet business spending will
bolster profits in the sector.
                                
 Dow component Intel Corp <INTC.O>, the world's largest
chipmaker, was expected to report a quarterly profit on
forecasts of renewed spending on technology when it releases
results after the market close. Its stock gained 2.3 percent to
$21.45.
                                
 Software also got a boost after Morgan Stanley added Oracle
Corp <ORCL.O>, the world's No. 2 business software maker behind
Microsoft Corp <MSFT.O>, to its "best ideas" list and raised
its price target.
                                
 Oracle gained 2.5 percent to $25.37 and Microsoft rose 2
percent to $30.96, leading gains in the Nasdaq <.IXIC>.
                                
 The rise in technology is "an indication that investors see
business spending, not consumer spending, fueling further
growth to bring us out of" recession, said Burt White, managing
director and chief investment officer at LPL Financial in
Boston.
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> added 29.78 points,
or 0.28 percent, to 10,710.55. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> rose 2.78 points, or 0.24 percent, to 1,148.46. The
Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> gained 8.84 points, or 0.38
percent, to 2,316.74.
                                
 The market rose despite an unexpected drop in December U.S.
retail sales and an increase in new jobless claims last week
that topped estimates. For details see [ID:nN14168822].
                                
 "The market was able to shrug off the data because as long
as news is bad, government stimulus will keep coming," said
Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist at
ChannelCapitalResearch.com in Shrewsbury, New Jersey.
                                
 In the financial sector, the KBW bank index <.BKX> was up
1.6 percent, led mainly by regional and mid-size banks.
Comerica Inc <CMA.N> jumped 2.9 percent to $34.13 after
brokerage Raymond James upgraded its stock.
                                
 Bank shares were in the spotlight after U.S. President
Barack Obama proposed a fee to make big banks repay taxpayers
for bailouts. [ID:nN14190937]
                                
 The sector had fallen earlier in the week on speculation
about the fee.
 (Additional reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Leslie
Adler)