Markets manage
tiny gain

---

By Lisa Singhania
Associated Press

NEW YORK >> News of more job cuts and a revenue warning from Hewlett-Packard pressured stocks today, but Wall Street held firm, moderately extending a rebound that began a day earlier.

The gains, which were strongest in tech stocks, intensified late in a session characterized by early losses and choppy trading. Analysts didn't expect the upturn to last, though, noting that the fundamental problems that led to the market's selloff Monday and Tuesday haven't disappeared.

"We've had some pretty shaky days and it's nice to have a rebound. But we're not off to the races yet. There's still too much weakness in second-quarter earnings and the projections for the third quarter are not encouraging," said Matt Brown, head of equity management at Wilmington Trust.

The Dow Jones industrials closed up 49.96 at 10,455.63, according to preliminary calculations, adding to a 164-point advance yesterday. During morning trading, the blue chips were down as much as 121 points.

Broader stock indicators also were higher. The technology-focused Nasdaq composite index rose 38.43 to 2,022.75, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index finished up 12.45 at 1,202.94.

Advancing issues narrowly led decliners on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,918 climbing, 1,178 falling and 204 unchanged. Volume came to 1.41 billion issues.

The Russell 2000 index rose 8.08 to 485.07. The NYSE composite index rose 5.66 to 611.98. The American Stock Exchange composite index jumped 8.99 to 891.44.

The price of the Treasury's 10-year note rose 11/32 to 99, while its yield fell 5 basis points to 5.131. The price of the 30-year note rose 9/32 to 97 3/32, and its yield fell 2 basis points to 5.575.

The session had a sour start as tech bellwether Hewlett-Packard said it was cutting 6,000 jobs -- in addition to 4,700 previously announced -- and expected to see third-quarter revenues decline as much as 16 percent from a year earlier, falling short of Wall Street's expectations. The Dow component dropped more than 6 percent, down $1.68 at $24.

But those losses were offset by strong gains in other Dow stocks, including American Express, which gained 71 cents to $38.77, and Boeing, which advanced $1.44 to $58.11.

The tech sector also managed to stay positive despite mostly disappointing earnings news.