Wednesday's midday trade: IBM helps Dow, but chip sector hurts Nasdaq

The Dow rebounded on Wednesday with a jump in IBM's stock on its 2015 outlook, but the Nasdaq fell as a weaker-than-expected earnings target from Texas Instruments weighed on the chip sector. Rising oil prices dragged on the broader market on the two-year anniversary of stocks' bull run from the S&P 500's 12-1/2-year closing low of 676.53, which was sparked by the financial crisis.
The Dow bounced back from a session low and reclaimed a slim gain as buyers snapped up shares of International Business Machines Corp, driving it up 2.7 percent to $166.59. But the Nasdaq couldn't overcome the drag from the chip makers, with an index of semiconductor shares down 2.3 percent and trading below its 50-day moving average in another sign of weakness for the sector. Texas Instruments shares fell 2.7 percent to $34.87, a day after the company gave a current-quarter earnings estimate below Wall Street's estimates.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 5.56 points, or 0.05 percent, at 12,219.94. But The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 2.34 points, or 0.18 percent, at 1,319.48. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 15.14 points, or 0.55 percent, at 2,750.63.