Wall Street advanced for a third straight day on Friday as the tech sector rose on upbeat outlooks, though weak trading volume hinted the rally lacks enthusiasm. All three major stock indexes looked to post gains for the week after two straight weeks of declines. The S&P was on track to notch its best week in eight, raising renewed questions about how much upside potential was left.
Trading volume has been weak, with Tuesday's session the lowest of the year, pointing to a lack of conviction. Oracle Corp jumped 3.3 percent to $33.20 and was the Nasdaq's most actively traded name a day after forecasting a rise in new software sales for its current fiscal quarter. The S&P technology index rose 0.5 percent on Friday, and is up more than 3 percent so far this quarter.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 62.55 points, or 0.51 percent, at 12,233.11. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 6.86 points, or 0.52 percent, at 1,316.52. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 20.14 points, or 0.74 percent, at 2,756.56. On the downside in tech shares, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd said earnings would slip as it spends heavily to launch its PlayBook tablet. The company's US-listed shares sank 11 percent to $57.05.