New York — Technology and blue chip stocks snapped back Tuesday as bargain hunters capitalized on the damage caused by Wall Street's worst day this year.
But analysts cautioned against reading too much into the advance, which came primarily on heavy trading late in the session. Although the Nasdaq composite index closed above the 2,000 benchmark, recovering from Monday's selloff, it remains near its lowest level in more than two years.
Trading clerk Ivan Orlovic relays trading information from the S&P 500 Futures trading pit at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The S&P index rose 1.5 percent, gaining 17.50 to 1,197.66 Tuesday, but is still in bear market territory at more than 20 percent off its high.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones industrials' gains barely cut into its 436-point loss in the previous session.
"The rebound we saw was very positive, but this isn't over," said Brian Belski, fundamental market strategist at US Bancorp Piper Jaffray. "We're going to be back and forth here for a while."
The Nasdaq closed up 91.40 at 2,014.78, a 4.8 percent gain, taking back much of Monday's 129-point loss.
The Dow rose 82.55 to 10,290.80, or less than 1 percent, in choppy trading.
The rebound's staying power was questionable, market watchers said, because the outlook for company profits remains dismal and investor sentiment is shaky.
Still, there were some signs that, at least for the moment, stocks and stock prices might be stabilizing.
Cisco Systems was up 13 percent, gaining $2.56 to $21.38. Intel rose $1.63 to $29.38, while Microsoft climbed $2.25 to $54.19. Intel and Microsoft are Dow components.
Wall Street also showed interest in financial stocks, which recently have suffered on concerns about the sector's health.
J.P. Morgan rose $1.91 to $47.40.
But other stocks didn't fare as well, including those in areas that investors flocked to earlier this year on the thought they would be safer bets in a slower economy.
The Dow's gains were limited by Merck, which slipped $1.22 to $72.93 and Coca-Cola, which lost $1.17 to $48.75.
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