By Benjamin Pimentel

The tech sector edged higher Tuesday as shares of Advanced Micro Devices, Amazon.com and Applied Materials all made gains.

Chip maker AMD (AMD) soared more than 7%, while Internet giant Amazon (AMZN) and chip capital equipment maker Applied Materials (AMAT) each added more than 3%.

Meanwhile, shares of another Internet behemoth, Google Inc. (GOOG), topped the $500 mark for the first time since August 2008. Google was at $500.50 at last check.

A European Union court adviser sided with Google on letting rival advertisers buy keywords on the trademarks of well-known companies.

These gains propelled the Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) to early gains. The tech-heavy index was up 0.3% at 2,144.

Meanwhile, the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) gained 0.6% and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) gained 1.2%.

Gains also came from Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), eBay Inc. (EBAY) and Intel Corp. (INTC).

On the other hand, other tech players were in the red, including Yahoo Inc. (YHOO), Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and Dell Inc. (DELL).

Dell on Monday reached a $3.9 billion deal to buy Perot Systems (PER).

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was ahead 29 points to 9,807.80.