Wall Street report: Friday close

TECH analysts issued a positive spin on a negative quarterly report from

The extraordinary defence of Microsoft in the face of bad news issued by the company itself turned a 7% share plunge overnight into a 1.5% gain and lent support to both major markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 51.83 points or 0.51% to 10,257.11. The Nasdaq Index slipped 5.60 points to 1,796.83. For the week, the Dow gained 0.7% while the Nasdaq tacked on 2.3%.

Microsoft, which reversed an expected loss to trade up 83 cents to $57.20, is a component of both the Dow and Nasdaq indices. Merrill Lynch led the chorus of analysts putting a positive spin on Microsoft's figures and its lowering of forecasts for the remainder of 2002. But cynics were quick to point out that many of the analysts rushing to Microsoft's side had maintained 'buy' recommendations on the shares as they were sliced in half over the past two years.

While Microsoft's comeback did not light a fire under techs generally, it did help stem selling in what had been anticipated would be a weak session. Intel was lower by 35 cents or 1.2% to $30.10 and Cisco Systems was off 18 cents or 1.2% to $15.26. Hewlett-Packard rose 49 cents or 2.7% to $18.69 and proposed merger partner Compaq added 30 cents or 2.8% to $11.12.

Sun Microsystems stood out with a gain of 63 cents or 7.4% to $9.15 after it said it expected to return to profitability in the current quarter despite continuing weak demand for its network servers.

United Airlines rose 15 cents or 1% to $14.99 despite posting a quarterly loss of $510m., its seventh straight. Walt Disney climbed 57 cents or 2.3% to $24.97 as Goldman Sachs noted an improvement in business at the company's theme parks.