HEXUS.sharewatch: Big gains for AMD and NVIDIA

The general theme of good week, bad week continues, with markets emerging from their Dubai wobble and generally performing well.

As is so often the case, the overall movement was exaggerated by easily our two most volatile stocks: the fabless semiconductor companies AMD and NVIDIA.

There wasn't a great deal of product news to explain the double figure jumps in share price, so maybe the news that the FTC is continuing to investigate giant semiconductor rival Intel, in spite of its settlement with AMD was a factor. Especially since it seems inclined to fight NVIDIA's corner now, too.

If that was a reason, Intel doesn't seem to have suffered as a consequence, however, managing a seven percent jump of its own last week too. So what is more likely is that the continuing trickle of positive news about growth in the computer and semiconductor industries is having a beneficial effect across the board.

The biggest exception last week was Dell, which was relegated to third place in global PC sales by Acer and is undergoing yet another strategic rethink, with greater emphasis apparently on smartphones.