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NEW YORK -- Blue-chip stocks moved higher today, buoyed by a pre-election spending spree that sent the Dow Jones industrial average as high as 11,000. But technology issues couldn't keep up, weighed down by investors concerns about Cisco Systems' earnings. Analysts cautioned against reading too much into the Dow's rally. Dow up 159.26
Associated Press
"You're a day before a presidential election that nobody can get their arms around, so there's gravitation toward buying safe blue chips," said Larry Wachtel, a market analyst at Prudential Securities. "But trading volume is low, breadth is negative and generally this is a very cautious day. The Dow represents 30 stocks out of 10,000."
The Dow closed up 159.26 at 10,977.21, losing some ground after hitting 11,000 for the first time since mid-September. The average is up more than 1,000 points in the 13 trading days since Oct. 18, when it fell as low as 9,571.40; this is the fastest 1,000-point gain ever in the Dow. The Nasdaq composite index fell 35.34 to 3,416.24, with much of its loss coming in the last hour of trading. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.50 at 1,432.19. Decliners issues outnumbered advancers by a 12-to-11 ratio on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,422 up, 1,385 down and 492 unchanged Volume was 920.51 million shares compared with 987.99 yesterday. The NYSE composite index rose 4.04 to 665.39, the American Stock Exchange composite index fell 5.64 to 913.94 and the Russell 2000 index slipped 3.79 to 503.96
The Treasury's 10-year note fell 7/32 to a price of 99 6/32; its yield rose 3 basis points to a 5.86 percent. The 30-year bond fell 13/32 to 105 3/32; its yield rose 3 basis points to 5.9 percent.
Cisco Systems, which fell $1.63 to $55.13, after the close reported earnings that topped forecasts by a penny and also achieved revenues that exceeded expectations.