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BOSTON - IBM Corp. laid off 1,570 people Wednesday, primarily from an ongoing overhaul of operations in its giant technology services unit. The company carried out a similar level of job cuts at the beginning of the month, for a total of 3,023 in this quarter and 3,720 for the year, according to IBM spokesman Edward Barbini. That amounts to roughly 1 percent of the company, which employed 355,000 people at the beginning of the year. But even these small numbers reflect a big project inside...

Stocks Moderately Higher In Midday Trading

June 1, 2007 on 7:11 pm | In Finance |

Watch today’s Markets Desk video.

The major indexes were up moderately in midday trading after some uneven movement.

Just past 1 p.m. ET, the S&P 500 was up 0.3%. The Dow rose 0.2% while the Nasdaq and NYSE composite were flat after being up and down on the day. The small-cap S&P 600 fell 0.3%.

Volume was modestly lower across the board, about 5% lighter on the NYSE and 2% on the Nasdaq.

Medical stocks were among market leaders. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway () nearly doubled its stake in Johnson & Johnson () and added shares of French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis in Q1. It also disclosed an investment in HMO WellPoint (). WellPoint rose 1% and J&J 2%.

CNH Global () rose 0.66 to 45.81, although it had been up as high as 48.15 earlier. The maker of farm machiner was part of a rally in some agriculture-related stocks after Deere & Co. () beat earnings expectations thanks to strong sales of tractors and other agricultural equipment. U.S. farmers are boosting corn production to meet growing demand for ethanol.

But Deere shares fell 0.94 to 119.72 amid a cautious profit outlook for the rest of the year.

Color Kinetics () followed up on a breakout from a high handle, rising 1.06 to 25.31.

Jack in the Box () was still up from its earnings-inspired rally but reversed lower, turning a 6% gain into a 2% rise.

On the downside, Digital River () plunged 3.22 to 50.97. The e-commerce technology firm pierced its 200-day moving average, one day after it closed below its 50-day line.

11 a.m. update: Stocks Edge Higher On Weak Volume

Stocks tentatively sought higher ground in early trading as April housing data and an industrial output report ran counter to forecasts for slowing growth.

The NYSE composite was up 0.1% at 10:56 a.m. ET. The Nasdaq and the Dow were up less than 0.1%. The S&P 500 gained 0.2%. Trading volume was tracking lower then Wednesday, down 12% on the NYSE, minus 62% on the Nasdaq.

Foreign exchanges were mostly higher. London’s FTSE 100 surged 3.6%. The Shanghai composite rose 2.2%. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 crawled up less than 0.1%.

A Federal Reserve report said autos, trucks and utilities helped boost April industrial output by 0.7%, above forecasts.

Commerce Department data showed housing starts jumped an unexpected 2.5% in April. The increase was well above March’s 0.3% gain, but 16% lower than year-ago levels. An index of builder confidence released by the National Association of Home Builders Tuesday fell back to its September 2006 level. “The crisis in the subprime sector has infected other parts of the mortgage market as well as consumer psychology,” according to the NAHB release, “and as a result the housing outlook has deteriorated.”

Jack In The Box () gapped up, gaining 3.69 to 78.52 after reporting Q2 earnings rose 25%, vs. estimates for 15% growth. The fast-food chain raised guidance for the year to $3.45 to $3.50 a share, well above current estimates for 10% earnings growth. The stock broke out of a base-on-base pattern Monday. It’s up 10% for the week.

TBS International () rose 1.23 to 20.80. The international operator of dry bulk tanker ships has reported hit-and-miss earnings and sales growth since early 2006. First-quarter earnings rose 108%, on 11% sales growth. Analysts see 62% profit growth for the year. TBS has missed views in four of the past seven quarters.

Shares of Guangshen Railway (), operator of the sole railway through China’s Pearl River Delta, gapped up, gaining 2.42 to 42.39. The Guangzhou Railway Group owns 67% of the company, which is thinly traded on U.S. exchanges. The stock rose three consecutive days prior to Wednesday. It is up 29% for the year.

Few leaders were breaking down in early trading, but Varian Semiconductor () fell 2.04 to 60.09. The stock has lost 15% since its Q2 earnings release April 27. The Electronics-Semiconductor group has dropped 6% during the same period. The company beat views in its quarterly report, with 165% EPS growth and 42% sales growth.