CHIPPER

Intel Corp. shares rose 3.9% on optimism that growth in more expensive computer chips is a positive sign for the No. 1 chip maker.

Intel rose $3.38 to close at $89.56 on Nasdaq as the most active stock in U.S. trading.

Computer dealers and distributors last week reported scant supply of personal computers with 266-megahertz and 300-MHz Pentium II chips, blaming Intel’s push toward faster and more profitable 333-MHz, 350-MHz and 400-MHz processors. Intel is pushing those top-of-the-line processors, which cost more, to help stem a decline in its earnings.

Lehman Bros. Inc. analyst Michael Gumport said that while Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel has confirmed there is a shortage of its more affordable processors, the company has indicated that growth in its high-end chips is “very positive.”

Meanwhile, Dell Computer Corp. shares rose 4.7% on optimism that the PC maker will report higher fiscal second-quarter earnings today, helped by falling component prices and stronger PC demand.

Shares in Round Rock, Texas-based Dell rose $4.94 to $110.56 on Nasdaq as the second-most active stock. The No. 1 direct seller of PCs is expected to earn 46 cents a diluted share in the quarter ended in July, compared with 30 cents in the year-ago quarter.

“Internet use is up and [Dell’s] component prices are down,” said David Y.D. Chiang, an analyst at Nikko Research.