Wall Street snapped a two-day losing streak led by technology stocks after an upgrade on the chip sector. Intel shares jumped 3.1% after Banc of America Securities upgraded its rating on the semiconductor sector. JP Morgan raised its outlook for Apple earnings.

Wal-Mart raised its first quarter EPS guidance. The retail stocks haven't come off much from their January lows, so the downside is expected to be limited. Underlying the market's upswing was a low hum of concern about the global financial industry ahead of earnings from major US banks next week.

In economic news, jobless claims fell by 53,000 more than double of what was expected. The US trade deficit unexpectedly rose for a second straight month in February, hitting $ 62.3 billion.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 54.72 points, or 0.44%, to 12,581.98. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 6.06 points, or 0.45%, to 1,360.55, and the Nasdaq composite index advanced 29.58 points, or 1.27%, to 2,351.70.

A look at how the Indian ADRs performed:

Name Infosys Sify Rediff.com India Satyam Wipro ICICI Bank HDFC Bank MTNL Tata Comm Dr Reddy's Lab Tata Motors Patni Computer Sterlite Ind

Symbol INFY SIFY REDF SAY WIT IBN HDB MTE TCL RDY TTM PTI SLT

Price 36.25 4.68 8.55 23.39 11.44 40.13 99.81 5.05 23.45 14.93 15.62 12.59 19.56

Change 0.25 0.04 0.10 0.93 0.06 -0.98 -0.37 0.00 -1.18 0.41 0.18 0.16 0.15

Change% 0.69% 0.86% 1.18% 4.14% 0.53% -2.38% -0.37% 0.00% -4.79% 2.82% 1.17% 1.29% 0.77%

Volume 5,417,122 68,558 15,638 1,142,193 467,117 1,869,375 279,873 73,000 151,625 176,300 743,884 62,200 275,055

High 36.54 4.84 8.56 23.44 11.50 40.74 101.04 5.09 24.08 14.98 15.63 12.59 19.79

Low 35.66 4.58 8.28 22.33 11.14 39.61 98.10 4.88 23.26 14.42 15.26 12.25 19.18