Optimism about Cisco Systems’ fourth-quarter results helped investors shake off an expected Federal Reserve rate hike on Tuesday.
Overall, the Nasdaq gained 9.80 to 2,174, the S&P was up 8.25 to 1,231 and the Dow rose 78.74 to 10,615. Trading volume was 1.45 billion shares on the New York Stock Exchange and 1.74 billion on the Nasdaq.
After the bell, network equipment giant Cisco reported quarterly numbers in line with Wall Street’s expectations. Cisco shares gained 36 cents, or almost 2 percent, to $19.61 before the report.
Cisco has been watched closely this week after a news report that the
company was interested in buying Finnish mobile handset maker Nokia . Cisco declined comment, but Nokia denied the report.
Shares of E*Trade added 25 cents, or less than 2 percent, to $16.35, after the company made its second acquisition in as many days.
The online brokerage firm is expanding its reach by buying investment
advisory firm Kobren Insight Management. On Monday, E*Trade announced a deal to acquire online brokerage operations of Harrisdirect from BMO Financial Group
As for other technology issues, PC maker Dell saw
shares rise 16 cents to $39.88. The company will post its quarterly results on Thursday. Analysts at Standard & Poor’s Equity Research reiterated their “strong buy” rating on Dell’s stock, saying shares were undervalued.
Microsoft , Intel
, Sun Microsystems
, Apple
and Yahoo
all ended up modestly.
Chinese search engine Baidu , which some have dubbed “the Google of China,” gave back some ground today, falling 19.40, or 17 percent, to 96.10. The loss followed a phenomenal IPO last week. eBay
, Qualcomm
and ADBE
also posted red numbers, although their declines were mild.
Paul Shread is not writing this week. He will return next week with
technical analysis.
