Stocks mostly higher

Cisco drags tech lower after sales slump

11/14/2013

NEW YORK — Major market indexes are edging mostly higher on Wall Street, but a sales slump at network equipment maker Cisco Systems dragged other technology stocks lower.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 26 points, or 0.2 percent, to 15,847 in midday trading today. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up five points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,787.

The Nasdaq composite fell a point to 3,964.

Safe-play stocks like utilities had the biggest gains, suggesting investors were avoiding risk.

Cisco dropped 12 percent after saying late Wednesday that its revenue for the current quarter could fall as much as 10 percent from a year ago.

Retailers were posting mixed results.

Dillard’s rose 2 percent as profits increased, but Kohl’s plunged 8 percent after its results missed Wall Street’s estimates.