Technology Issues Lead Stock Market Rebound

Major stock indexes turned higher Monday after sending their recent losses to 10 percent, a key benchmark for investors trying to spot the bottom of the past month’s slide.

Technology shares led the afternoon rally, which boosted the Dow Jones industrial average by 60.21 to 6,451.90, its biggest gain in three weeks and enough to put the blue-chip barometer back in positive territory for the year.

The Dow, which traded at a modest loss for much of the session, slid nearly 150 points on Friday to wipe out the rest of what had been a 10 percent gain for the year.

At the day’s low, the Dow was off nearly 35 points, bringing its drop to about 730 points or 10.3 percent from its all-time high set just a month ago. Similarly, the widely watched Standard & Poor’s 500 list also flirted Monday with what would have been a 10 percent decline from its all-time high.

Although both measures also approached a 10 percent “correction” - a term used to describe a temporary bull market slide - during last summer’s selloff, neither has held such a setback to the market’s close in nearly seven years.

Some of the stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Monday:

NYSE

General Motors, up 5/8 at 53-5/8.

The automaker’s first-quarter earnings rose 76 percent, exceeding forecasts, as the profitability of its North American operations reached the highest level in more than a decade. GM benefited from a comparison to a weak first quarter last year, when a strike at two brake plants virtually shut down its North American production.

Coca-Cola, up 1-7/8 at 55-5/8.

The soft drink maker’s first-quarter earnings rose 38 percent from a year ago, exceeding analyst estimates, as worldwide sales increased faster than expected. Coca-Cola also benefited from the recent sale of its stake in a British bottling venture for about $1 billion.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber, down 1/8 at 50-1/8.

The rubber products manufacturer’s profits rose 12.3 percent in the first quarter on a 3.6 percent worldwide increase in the number of tires sold. The results were in line with analyst expectations.

NASDAQ

Novellus, down 22-1/4 at 53.

A jury found that Novellus infringed a patent held by Applied Materials. Novellus said it isn’t accepting new orders for domestic delivery of systems made with the process in question. The verdict was reached Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

United Waste Systems, down 4-1/4 at 33-3/8.

USA Waste Services (NYSE), down 3-3/8 at 31-7/8.

USA Waste, continuing a spree of acquisitions that has made it the nation’s third-largest trash handler, agreed to buy United Waste for stock valued at $1.7 billion. USA Waste is to swap 1.075 shares of its stock for each share of United Waste.