The Battle Road Tech Index™ rose 4.4 percent for the week ended March 27, 2009, closing at 1093. Year-to-date, the index is up 9.3 percent, having started at a value of 1000.

The following companies were notable movers for the week:

Hewlett Packard (NYSE: HPQ) gained 16 percent over the week. The company rolled out a new Pavilion laptop model on March 26 in an effort to stimulate consumer market demand. Company executives also noted signs that consumer spending on computers might be recovering and that the worst of a slowdown in PC demand may be over, citing strong sales at an IT Exhibition in Singapore in March. Though this is a possible sign of rising consumer demand, it is not a sure sign that sales will increase, as corporate demand has remained sluggish.

Western Digital (NYSE: WDC) rose 13 percent this week. The company continues to lead the market in fast-growing 2.5 inch hard drives used in notebooks, which contracted five percent in the most recent quarter but outpaces 3.5 inch models, used in desktop applications, which contracted 13 percent. This may put the company in a good position to benefit from a rebound in PC demand, especially with the shift from desktop to notebook, and the accompanying shift from 2.5 inch to 3.5 inch drives.

Akamai (NASDAQ: AKAM) shares rose 11 percent for the week. Akamai’s results are sensitive to corporate investment in internet services, and as spending declined in the economic downturn, the company’s stock price faced heavy pressure. Investors were disappointed by Akamai’s slowing growth early in the downturn, and it is unclear how significant a role increasing competition played in its mediocre results. As confidence in a recovery builds, and assuming competition hasn’t stolen market share, the company could continue to outperform the broader index.