Apple’s Shine Lifts Stocks

Apple’s long-awaited move into the mobile device market Tuesday sent its shares soaring — and battered competitors like Research in Motion and Palm .

The news was good enough to send Apple shares 8.5% higher and help the Nasdaq to a modest gain on the day, while investors remained cautious on blue chips ahead of corporate earnings season.

Sprint Nextel fell 11% on a weaker than expected sales outlook and layoff plans, and Lawson and Emcore lost ground on their results.

WebMD , Axcelis and Volt jumped on their results.

Brightpoint fell 12% on a CIBC downgrade.

The Nasdaq added 5 to 2443, the S&P 500 slipped 1 to 1412, and the Dow lost 7 to 12,416. Volume rose to 2.95 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.23 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 18-14 on the NYSE, while decliners led by a few issues on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 44% on the NYSE, and 55% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 155-32 on the NYSE, and 89-62 on the Nasdaq.