U.S. stocks rose on Monday, boosted by oil companies, such as Exxon Mobil Corp., and software companies, including Microsoft Corp., following brokerage upgrades of the two sectors, Reuters reported. Intel Corp., the world's largest chip maker, rose 12 cents to $26.47 on Nasdaq following a Wall Street Journal report that Apple Computer Inc. has been in talks that could lead to the use of Intel chips in its Macintosh computers. Apple rose nearly 2 percent to $38.29. Neither company would confirm the report. nN23148464. Separately, Bear Stearns raised Intel's second-quarter earnings and revenue estimates. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 34.14 points, or 0.33 percent, at 10,506.05. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 2.69 points, or 0.23 percent, at 1,191.97. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 7.11 points, or 0.35 percent, at 2,053.53. Nasdaq, which has traded higher in the last seven sessions, touched a two-month high. Software stocks rose after Goldman Sachs on Monday upgraded its view of the software group to "attractive" from "neutral," citing the emergence of a new technology which uses the Internet to centralize all software applications. --More 2356 Local Time 2056 GMT
