Sprint Nextel <S.N> shares climbed 4.6 percent to $3.43
and led the S&P telecommunications sector's index <.GSPL>
higher after the company's chief financial officer said he
hoped to see revenue declines slowing this year and a turn to
revenue growth several quarters ahead.
Shares of Clearwire Corp <CLWR.O>, which is majority
owned by Sprint, jumped 12 percent to $7.58 on Nasdaq.
The market move "is more news-specific today than anything
in a broad sense," Brunner said.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> shed 11.79 points,
or 0.11 percent, to 10,554.41. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> dipped 0.14 point, or 0.01 percent, to 1,138.56.
But the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> gained 5.39 points,
or 0.23 percent, to 2,331.74.
Some analysts expect the stock market to remain in a tight
range while Congress debates healthcare and bank reform.
Though volume has been moderate to light of late, the
market's rebound from the recent sell-off has been accompanied
by improving breadth, with a rising number of stocks hitting
fresh multi-week highs.
Dow component McDonald's Corp advanced 2.7 percent to
$65.37 on the New York Stock Exchange after the world's
biggest hamburger chain reported that February same-store
sales increased 4.8 percent. [ID:nN08166766]
Cisco Systems <CSCO.O>, another Dow component, rose 3.1
percent to $26.00 on Nasdaq after JP Morgan assumed coverage
of the stock with an "overweight" rating and a price target of
$28.
But an index of health insurers' shares slipped 0.5
percent after U.S. Presidewnt Barack Obama criticized
insurance premium increases and some cases of coverage denial
in a speech in Philadelphia. For details see [ID:nHEALTH].
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Jan Paschal)