Cisco Systems gave some support to a faltering stock market on Wednesday with its better than expected results.
Despite Cisco’s results and a big drop in the trade deficit and oil prices, stocks were sharply lower on economic and terrorism fears until they rallied in the afternoon to end the day in the green.
Cisco rose 2% on strong telecom sales, but the rest of the market didn’t follow until late in the day.
The Nasdaq gained 8 to 1971, the S&P 500 rose 4 to 1171, and the Dow climbed 19 to 10,300. Volume declined to 1.8 billion shares on the NYSE, but rose to 1.75 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 18-14 on the NYSE, while decliners held a 15-14 edge on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 60% on the NYSE, and 66% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 66-68 on the NYSE, and 45-95 on the Nasdaq.
Apple , Napster
and RealNetworks
tumbled on digital music competition from Yahoo
. Meanwhile, the IPO of Warner Music Group
got a chilly reception despite having Jimmy Page open trading on the New York Stock Exchange with a rousing guitar solo.
Dell edged higher ahead of its earnings report due out after the close on Thursday, and Red Hat
got a boost on news of an investment from Michael Dell.
eCollege.com and Infocrossing
tumbled on their results.