Intel raises dividend, stock up 2 percent

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Intel Corp (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday that it raised its quarterly dividend by about 10 percent, sending its shares up almost 2 percent.

The world's biggest maker of computer chips said that it is raising its dividend to 14 cents per share, payable June 1 to shareholders of record on May 7. In January it declared a quarterly dividend of 12.75 cents a share.

Intel, which said it has returned nearly $12 billion to shareholders since 1992, saw its shares rise 40 cents or 2 percent to $21.49 in morning trade on Nasdaq.

Intel had said on Wednesday that laptop computers costing less than $300 would soon be available to U.S. and European consumers. The laptops, which were designed for poor children, may further push down computer prices.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)