Tech Titans Dominate the Dow

Today's list of top performers on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) reads like a Who's Who of the tech industry.

Largest Dow Winners, April 29, 2013 | Infographics.

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ  ) led the pack with a 2.3% gain. The Silicon Valley veteran started bouncing on Friday on rumors that activist investor Carl Icahn is building a stake in the company. Icahn's camp did nothing to defuse this chatter over the weekend, and the fires were stoked further by HP's Slate 7 tablet hitting an enthusiastic review circuit. The low-cost Android device appears to give Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) own Nexus 7 a run for its money.

Next, IBM (NYSE: IBM  ) shares jumped 2.2%. Thanks to Big Blue's heavy weight in the Dow's price-weighted system, this move alone accounted for about one-third of the Dow's total points gain. The stock is clawing its way back from a disappointing earnings report earlier this month. IBM is currently hosting its annual IBM Impact conference in Vegas, and investors seem to enjoy the new products that are on tap. The DreamFace application, for example, underscores IBM's commitment to flexible analysis tools for big-data problems.

Third, you'll find Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) gaining 2.1%. Redmond just added a slate of new networking tools to its Windows Azure cloud-computing platform, and the freshly unveiled IllumiRoom projector paints an innovative picture of the holiday season's Xbox 720 gaming console. IllumiRoom, plus the already-familiar Kinect control interface, add up to serious innovation in the gaming space -- and the industry could sure use some new tricks.

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