S&P 500 on track for best 5-day rally since 2011

By Ryan Vlastelica

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 up for a fifth straight day as technology companies rallied on strong results, though weakness in Boeing weighed on the Dow.

With the session's advance, which builds on Tuesday's jump of about 2 percent, the S&P 500 is up 4.5 percent over the past five sessions, putting it on track for the biggest five-day rally since December 2011.

The day's gains were broad, with eight on the S&P's ten primary sectors rising. Tech names were among the biggest advancers a day after both Yahoo Inc and Broadcom beat revenue expectations.

Broadcom shares climbed 6.9 percent to $39.90 while Yahoo was up 5.3 percent at $42.34; the two made up the S&P 500's top percentage gainers.

Material stocks also outperformed on the day, up 0.6 percent, after Dow Chemical posted better-than-expected earnings. The stock rose 0.8 percent to $48.58.

Limiting the market's advance was Boeing Co, which fell 3.5 percent to $122.73 despite reporting higher-than-expected earnings and lifting its outlook, as analysts raised concern about the costs of the 787 Dreamliner. Its decline comes after a rise of 5.8 percent over the four previous sessions.

"The season has been mixed, and the global economy is a concern for big multinational companies, but the fact that the market can shake off some bad reports is indicative of what good footing it is on right now," said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Robert W. Baird & Co in Nashville.

In the latest economic data, consumer prices rose 0.1 percent in September as energy costs fell broadly, painting a weak inflation picture that should give the Federal Reserve ample room to keep interest rates low for a while.

At 12:14 p.m. the Dow Jones industrial average fell 10.15 points, or 0.06 percent, to 16,604.66, the S&P 500 gained 3.04 points, or 0.16 percent, to 1,944.32 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.44 points, or 0.01 percent, to 4,419.04.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 1,779 to 1,202, for a 1.48-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the Nasdaq, 1,326 issues fell and 1,226 advanced for a 1.08-to-1 ratio favoring decliners.

The benchmark S&P 500 index was posting 44 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 53 new highs and 16 new lows.

(Editing by Nick Zieminski)