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Stocks end day with small gains

Good news from Cisco helped the market, but a lack of confidence still has investors in a wait-and-see mode.

Last update: March 9, 2010 - 9:27 PM

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NEW YORK - U.S. stocks ended with a slight gain Tuesday after being whipsawed by bets in the financial sector and a rally in telecommunications, which benefited from Cisco Systems Inc.'s unveiling of a new router.

The Dow Jones industrial average moved between gains and losses late in the day before ending 11.86 points higher, or 0.1 percent, at 10,564.38. The Nasdaq composite index was the strongest of the major indexes, with a gain of 0.4 percent.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent, led by a 1.2 percent gain in its telecommunications sector, which benefited from hopes that Cisco's new device will help alleviate congestion on mobile data networks.

Sprint Nextel Corp. shares jumped 6.5 percent, while shares of Verizon Communications rose 0.9 percent.

The S&P 500's financial sector finished with a small gain overall, up just 0.3 percent.

In general, traders and analysts said Tuesday's session saw an increase in speculative betting, which added volatility and underscored the lack of confidence that has developed on trading floors since the market hit its bear-market lows exactly one year ago.

"The main thing the market has going for it at this point is cheap money," thanks to low borrowing costs from central banks, said Darren Chervitz, research director at Jacob Asset Management. "We're positioning ourselves for the day when fundamentals will matter again, but we haven't reached that point yet."

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