KLA Saves the Day

Investors looking for a reason to buy found it Tuesday when KLA-Tencor said its June quarter was better than expected.

The stock market, which was in a steep decline over disappointing earnings news from Lucent and Alcoa, turned around after the chip equipment maker's upbeat comments to end the day modestly higher.

KLAC shares jumped 8% after CEO Rick Wallace told analysts the company's orders were stronger than expected, boosted by demand for NAND and DRAM.

The beaten-down chip sector jumped 3% on the news.

The Nasdaq rose 12 to 2128, the S&P 500 climbed 5 to 1272, and the Dow gained 31 to 11,134. Volume rose to 2.31 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.01 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 20-12 on the NYSE, and 17-13 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 54% on the NYSE, and 61% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 67-103 on the NYSE, and 48-124 on the Nasdaq.

Intevac, Websense and Key Tronic gained on their outlooks.