NEW YORK — Most stocks rose Wednesday, snapping a four-day losing streak in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, as earnings at Target and speculation that Ireland will receive aid offset concern that technology spending is slowing.
The S&P 500 added less than a point to 1,178.59. The 30-stock Dow Jones industrial average declined 15.62, or 0.1 percent, to 11,007.88. The technology-focused Nasdaq composite rose 6.17, or 0.3 percent, to 2,476.01.
“The markets are vulnerable,” said John Carey, a Boston-based money manager at Pioneer Investments. “People are a little more relaxed about the European sovereign situation today as compared to yesterday.
“However, until we get more clarity on that and the outlook for Chinese monetary policy, I expect heightened fluctuations with investors reacting to any piece of news.”
The S&P 500 has dropped 3.3 percent since Nov. 11, after Cisco’s disappointing forecast for profit and revenue underscored government spending cutbacks in Europe, Japan and the U.S., posing risks for companies that rely on the sector for growth.
Stock futures held their advance Wednesday morning as the Consumer Price Index increased 0.2 percent after a 0.1 percent rise the prior month, the Labor Department said. A 0.3 percent gain was forecast by economists, according to the median projection in a Bloomberg News survey. Excluding food and fuel, so-called core costs increased 0.6 percent from October 2009, the smallest gain on record.
A separate report showed housing starts fell to a 519,000 annual rate, the fewest since a record low in April 2009 and down 12 percent from a revised 588,000 in September that was less than previously estimated, the Commerce Department said.
“Both data are consistent with what the Fed has been saying,” said Stephen Wood, the New York-based chief market strategist for Russell Investments. “It doesn’t give investors reason to question the policy.”
Target climbed 3.9 percent to $55.62. Net income rose to $535 million, or 74 cents a share, in the three months ended Oct. 30, from $436 million, or 58 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding a tax gain, profit was 68 cents a share, matching the average of 20 estimates in a Bloomberg survey.
Analysts are raising their estimates of 2011 revenue at S&P 500 companies for the first time in six months, encouraging investors betting that stocks will rally.
NetApp slumped as much as 7.8 percent before trading was halted. Excluding some costs, earnings will be 48 cents to 50 cents this quarter, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company said on its website. Analysts had projected 51 cents, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“The reaction to NetApp’s estimate is more of a contagion of what we saw starting with Cisco’s warning last week,” said Dave Lutz, managing director of equity trading at Stifel Nicolaus in Baltimore.
