Tech buoys Wall Street, but energy still weighs

By Rodrigo Campos

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged up on Wednesday, boosted by tech shares, while the energy sector was once more the largest weight on the market as crude prices continued to flirt with multi-year lows.

Hewlett-Packard, Apple and chipmakers were among the largest advancers, with the PHLX semiconductor index at its highest since mid-2001. Apple gained 0.8 percent while the SOX was last up 1.8 percent.

Trading was relatively light, with some market participants already out for the Thanksgiving holiday. The stock market will be closed on Thursday, while Friday will be a half-day session.

U.S. consumer spending rose modestly in October and a measure of business spending plans fell for a second straight month, but consumer confidence was near a 7-1/2-year high suggesting the economy remains resilient in the face of faltering global demand.

"On balance data was still supportive of reasonable strength in the economy," said Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at OakBrook Investments in Lisle, Illinois.

He said the optimism on holiday shopping was a reason behind gains in chipmakers. "PC sales have been a drag and there may be some hope we see a pick-up."

At 2:30 p.m. EST (1930 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average fell 6.15 points, or 0.03 percent, to 17,808.79, the S&P 500 gained 3.24 points, or 0.16 percent, to 2,070.27 and the Nasdaq Composite added 22.38 points, or 0.47 percent, to 4,780.63.

Hewlett-Packard Co rose 3.7 percent to $39.02 as one of the S&P 500's biggest gainers the day after reporting fourth-quarter results.

Deere & Co fell 0.8 percent to $87.06 after the farm equipment company forecast a drop in equipment sales in the current quarter, hurt by lower corn prices and falling farm incomes.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,765 to 1,245, for a 1.42-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, 1,545 issues rose and 1,121 fell for a 1.38-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.

The S&P 500 was posting 51 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 94 new highs and 33 new lows.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Nick Zieminski)