Stocks rally as rate-cut
move nears

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By Lisa Singhania
Associated Press

NEW YORK >> Investors bet today that the Federal Reserve would lower interest rates again this week, and the anticipation sent stocks spurting higher.

Wall Street was also focused on earnings from Cisco Systems due after the market closed. The tech bellwether's results are considered a key measure of the sector's overall health and prospects.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 117.49, or nearly 1.3 percent, at 9,441.03. It was the index's third straight session to advance.

Broader stock indicators fared even better thanks to heavy technology buying. The Nasdaq composite index rose 47.74, or 2.7 percent, to 1,793.47, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 15.61, or 1.4 percent, to 1,102.83.

Advancers led decliners nearly 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 2,052 up, 1,073 down and 199 unchanged. Volume was 1.18 billion shares vs. 1.12 billion Friday. The NYSE composite index rose 6.19 to 563.79, the American Stock Exchange composite index fell 3.87 to 820.33 and the Russell 2000 index rose 4.47 to 437.54.

The Treasury's 2-year note rose 2/32 to 10019/32; its yield fell 4 basis points to 2.44 percent. The 10-year note gained 15/32 to 105 - 18/32; its yield fell 6 basis points to 4.30 percent. The 30-year bond jumped 1 - 21/32 to 108 - 3/32; its yield fell 10 basis points to 4.85 percent.

The stock market gains came a day before a Fed meeting that some market watchers expected to result in the 10th rate cut of the year.

Meanwhile, Cisco Systems rose 64 cents to $17.90 ahead of its first-quarter report. After the market closed, the company reported a first-quarter net loss but beat expectations and the stock rose another 63 cents in after-hours trading.

For the three months ended Oct. 27, Cisco lost $268 million, or 4 cents a share, compared with a net profit of $798 million, or 11 cents a share, in the same period a year ago.

Excluding one-time items, the company earned $332 million, or 4 cents a share, compared with $1.4 billion, or 18 cents a share, a year ago.

Analysts were expecting a profit of 2 cents a share, according to a survey by Thomson Financial/First Call.

Revenue for the first quarter fell 32 percent, to $4.4 billion over a year ago, but increased 3 percent over the previous quarter's $4.3 billion. Analysts were expecting first-quarter sales of $4.2 billion.

Rival Juniper Networks was up $3.10 at $22.58 in the regular trading session.