Tech Stocks: Microsoft, Intel lead gains; H-P, Lexmark fall

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) � A late-afternoon surge kept tech stocks on a roll Friday, most large-cap names in the group up more than 1% as the Dow jumped more than 200 points before the closing bell.

Reuters Microsoft senior exec Steven Sinofsky previews Windows 8 on Feb. 29, 2012.

The move put the Nasdaq Composite COMP �, up more than 1.5% to 2,910 � though the index is still likely to close negative for the week.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index SOX �picked up nearly 1.2% and the Morgan Stanley High-Tech Index added about 1.4%.

The S&P 500 SPX �was up by 1.6%. The broad market push was credited to a strong lift from the banking sector, following J.P. Morgan�s report of a $5 billion profit for the second quarter. Read Market Snapshot.

Among large-cap techs, Microsoft MSFT �and Intel INTC �were both up more than 2%, with IBM IBM �up by 1.5%. All three firms are slated to report results for the June quarter next week.

Intel is expected to post relatively flat earnings on a small sales gain, as a growing number of analysts believe the chip giant may be affected by the same weakness that caused arch-rival AMD AMD �to lower its own forecast earlier this week. Read Earnings Watch on Intel.

Cisco Systems Inc. CSCO �rose more than 2% after Shaw Wu of Sterne Agee issued a positive report on the networking giant, writing that Cisco �is an underappreciated turnaround story similar to what we have seen with Apple, IBM and EMC in the past.�

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Another large-cap name � Hewlett-Packard Co. HPQ � � fell more than 2%, making it among the few decliners in the sector.

The drop came after J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz reiterated his underperform rating on the stock, writing that �our sum-of-the-parts analysis suggests that H-P is not optimizing the value of its parts due to operational underperformance.�

H-P�s drop was also exacerbated by a warning from rival printer maker Lexmark LXK �, whose shares slid more than 16% after the company lowered its second-quarter forecast, citing weaker-than-expected demand.