Posted on: Wednesday, February 9, 2005
Dollar, oil give stocks lift ahead of Cisco earnings
By Michael J. Martinez
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Investors cautiously bid stocks narrowly higher yesterday, cheered by a recovering dollar and moderating oil prices. Volume was light, however, as the market waited for Cisco Systems Inc.'s post-session earnings report, which turned out to be disappointing.
A barrel of light crude closed at $45.40, up 12 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Wall Street's focus, however, was on Cisco, and that kept many investors from making large bets during trading hours.
The networking giant's fourth-quarter profits were in line with Wall Street expectations, but its revenues missed analysts' forecasts, creating worries that demand for technology — and corporate spending overall — was waning.
"Cisco is of course a benchmark, and I think investors are hoping that these earnings will tell them something about the economy," said Sam Lieber, president of the Alpine Funds.
"Still, you have to look at the overall picture. Cisco is a part of that, but it's not what it used to be," Lieber said.
Analysts were not alarmed by the rangebound trading, particularly after the market's relatively strong showing last week following a lackluster January.
Advancing issues slightly outnumbered decliners on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 1.84 billion shares, compared with 1.75 billion Monday.
The dollar struck a two-month high against the Japanese yen, but fell against the euro after two days of gains, while oil prices hovered near $45 per barrel.
