May 10, 2012-Stocks Fail to Maintain Early Gains Edging Slightly Higher

After failing to sustain an early upward move, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The choppy trading on the day came on the heels of the downward trend seen over the past several sessions. The major averages eventually ended the session mixed, with the Nasdaq edging down by 1.07 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 2,933.64, while the Dow crept up 19.98 points or 0.2 percent to 12,855.04 and the S&P 500 rose 3.41 points or 0.3 percent to 1,357.99. The early strength on Wall Street came as some traders picked up stocks at reduced levels following the weakness seen in recent sessions, which pulled the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 down to two-month closing lows on Wednesday. Buying interest was somewhat subdued, however, as traders continued to express concerns about the political uncertainty in Greece, where Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos is making a last-ditch effort to form a government and avoid a new round of elections. Disappointing news from Cisco Systems (CSCO) also generated some negative sentiment, with the networking giant falling by 10.5 percent after reporting better than expected third quarter earnings but forecasting fourth quarter results below analyst estimates.