U.S. stocks close higher on tech, Cisco SAN FRANC

U.S. stocks close higher on tech, Cisco
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks posted their best day in two weeks Thursday as gains in the tech sector and reassuring comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel countered disappointing regional manufacturing data.
Shares of Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) led the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI JIA) higher. The index rose 85.33 points, or 0.7%, to 13,250.11 in recent activity, after touching an intraday high of 13,269.35.
Cisco shares closed up 9.6% as the stand-out leader on the Dow. The network-equipment maker late Wednesday reported better-than-expected first-quarter results and unveiled a plan to raise its quarterly dividend by 75%.
Other blue-chip tech advancers included Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) , Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) , IBM (NYSE:IBM) , and Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ)
Shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) closed 5.5% higher on buyout rumors, and heavy hitters such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Oracle Corp. also finished higher.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ:COMP) was up 31.46 points, or 1%, to close at 3,062.39.

On the other side of the tech coin, it appeared as if more Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) employees were trading online than updating their Facebook pages. The stock price dropped to a record low of $19.69 Thursday as the post-IPO lock-up on some 271 million insider shares expired. Shares closed down 6.3% at $19.87.

The S&P 500 (SNC:SPX) rose 9.98 points, or 0.7%, to 1,415.51, with the tech sector closing up 1.5%. At current levels, both the Dow and the S&P 500 are on track to post six consecutive weeks of gains, and the Nasdaq is looking at five weeks of gains in a row.
Stocks got an added boost as Germany’s Merkel said during a trip to Canada that Europe’s largest economy was committed to maintaining the euro.
But the gains can be deceiving seeing that equity markets are also mired in one of the longest low-volume stretches of the year.

By the close, just over 3 billion NYSE-listed shares had exchanged hands, following four days of sub-3 billion-share daily volume. August daily trading volume has averaged 3.31 billion shares for NYSE-listed shares, according to Barclays.

In contrast, Nasdaq volume was slightly above average with just over 1.9 billion Nasdaq-listed shares trading, compared with an August average of 1.67 billion shares.

“Clearly, markets had a bit of a bid, but I’m not looking for much follow-through,” said Scott Wren, senior equity strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors. “This looks like the calm before the storm.”
With an S&P 500 target of 1,400 to 1,450 by the end of the year, Wren is looking for another 5% to 10% pullback in stocks this year before he starts talking to his retail investors about buying opportunities. He did not place much faith in today’s market moves being connected to economic data given the light volume. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-sl...2012-08-16