A newer electronics and computer sector has been added to the older industries of metallurgy, engineering, and printing and publishing.
Because of continued weak corporate capital spending, in the first quarter the personal computer sector built up excess inventory.
In the computer sector, Mr. Katz bought shares of Hewlett-Packard in May at an average price of $27.95.
"The turnaround looks to be on track, but the reality is that the expectations were low," said Shaw Wu, a computer sector analyst with American Technology Research.
Compaq and Intel declined to disclose the financial terms of the Intel alliance, which extends the close relationship the companies already have in the personal computer sector.
Strength in the computer sector and in technology stocks in general helped pull the overall indexes higher, though, especially the Nasdaq composite index, in which tech shares play a dominant role.
The computer sector, which includes computers, peripherals, and software, generates about a thirtieth of the gross domestic product, but it has accounted for roughly a third of economy-wide productivity growth in recent years, according to Michael Harper, an economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In the high-flying computer sector, the Gremlin Group, which makes interactive software for computer games, was also among the best performers of the day, jumping 25 1/2p to 99 1/2p after admitting that it, too, has entered into merger talks with a 'limited number of interested' parties.
One example in the computer sector is Dell Computer DELLL, $94).
Hewlett Packard hwp IBM ibm were the sharpest decliners in the computer sector.
