Chip stocks move against the grain

While the broader markets bled red ink early Friday, semiconductor stocks managed to pull ahead and into the black.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) rose about 1 point to 503.16 in late morning trading, while the Dow, tech-heavy Nasdaq and S&P 500 were in negative territory. The SOX ended the day up 2.12 to close at 504.28. By the end of the day, the Dow and Nasdaq were down, but not by much. The Dow closed at 13,239.54, losing 31.14 points, while the Nasdaq lost 11.60 to close at 2,544.89. The S&P 500 was about flat for the day, closing at 1,453.64.

Novellus Systems gave the SOX index a boost, rising $1.35, or 5.21 percent, to $27.25 in morning trading. It finished the day at $27.11, up $1.21. Industry titan Intel was also up in morning trading, gaining 9 cents, or 0.38 percent, to $24.01 a share. Shares of Intel closed at $23.98, up 6 cents.

Late Thursday, the Street.com's markets commentator Jim Cramer gave Intel and a number of other tech stocks a thumbs-up.

Cramer's bullish sentiment comes, despite the broader markets feeling the heat, as concerns about the nation's credit squeeze rise. The Federal Reserve on Friday pumped liquidity into the credit markets, in a move to keep short-term rates in check, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.