New York — The Dow Jones industrials scored their second straight triple-digit gain Monday, as investors grew more optimistic that Wall Street might be recovering after two weeks of heavy losses.
Although the market extended a rally that began Friday, analysts warned there are no guarantees that the gains would be sustained in the long term.
"I don't see any conviction behind it," said Tony Cecin, senior managing director and head of equity trading at U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc. "We need to see three, four, five days of plus-Dow movement on increasing volume every day before people begin to feel this is something they can maybe pin their hats to."
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 182.75 to close at 9,687.53, adding to Friday's 115.30-point gain. It was the Dow's biggest advance in four weeks; on Feb. 26, it rose 200.63.
The broader market was mixed. The Nasdaq composite index, moderately higher until early afternoon, was off 10.19 at 1,918.49. Wall Street's broadest measure, the Standard & Poor's 500, rose 12.86 to 1,152.69.
While the general atmosphere was improving, the market still showed its vulnerability.
Cisco Systems dropped 81 cents to $17.87, hitting a 52-week low, after two analysts lowered their estimates for the Internet networking firm's third-quarter and fiscal 2001 results.
But analysts saw some strength in the market despite Cisco's slide. Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. said it was a "very telling statement" that the Nasdaq, while lower, for the most part held its own although one of its leading stocks was struggling.
Other losers on the Nasdaq included Intel, which fell 50 cents to $28.31, Sun Microsystems, down $1.01 at $17.24, and Microsoft, which declined 50 cents to $56.06.
Sectors that were hit hard during the past two weeks recovered Monday, including health care. Merck rose $2.50 to $71.48 and Pfizer was up $1.21 at $38.74.
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