Thursday November 5, 06:10 PM
US STOCKS-Wall St rallies on data; Cisco earnings lift techs
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK, Nov 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks gained sharply on
Thursday after an expansion in business productivity and a fall in
jobless claims boosted investor confidence about the economy, while
Cisco led gains in tech shares.
U.S. non-farm productivity rose more than expected in the third
quarter as companies squeezed more output from a smaller pool of
labor, while fewer U.S. workers filed new jobless insurance claims
than forecast last week -- hitting a 10-month low.
Cisco shares gained 2.2 percent to $23.79 after the
company reported earnings late on Wednesday. The technology
bellwether reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue, and its
board authorized up to $10 billion in stock buybacks. For details,
see
'We opened on good news from Cisco and the market just moved up
higher on better news on productivity and unemployment numbers ...
The next news that will move the market will be the raft of earnings
after the bell today, and the unemployment numbers tomorrow,' said
Stephen Massocca, managing director at Wedbush Morgan in San
Francisco.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 172.76 points, or
1.76 percent, to 9,974.90. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
advanced 15.95 points, or 1.52 percent, to 1,062.45. The Nasdaq
Composite Index rose 44.18 points, or 2.15 percent, to
2,099.70.
On Friday, the Labor Department is expected to report that fewer
jobs were cut in October than in the previous month. But the jobless
rate is expected to rise to 9.9 percent, exceeding a 26-year high of
9.8 percent in September. Economists polled by Reuters have forecast
a loss of 175,000 jobs in October, sharply below the 263,000 jobs cut
in the previous month.
In Thursday's session at midday, other technology stocks also
advanced. Intel Corp (NASDAQ: INTC - news) gained 2.2 percent to $19.00 and
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT - news) rose 2.2 percent to $28.68.
Shares of IMS Health Inc (NYSE: RX - news) soared 23.5 percent to $20.76
after the company agreed to be bought by TPG and CPP Investment
board. The deal was valued at $5.2 billion, including the assumption
of debt.
But CVS Caremark Corp tumbled 19.7 percent to $29.04
after comments from Chief Executive Tom Ryan on weakness in the
pharmacy benefit management business.
U.S. retail chains reported October sales that rebounded from the
lows of a year ago, but many failed to surpass Wall Street's
increased expectations as consumers spend selectively headed into the
holiday season.
The S&P retail index rose 1.2 percent.
(Reporting by Angela Moon, Editing by Jan Paschal)
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