NEW YORK, Nov 1 (AFP) - Wall Street shares swung modestly higher Monday as caution about the US presidential election overshadowed corporate and economic developments.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 44.54 points (0.44 percent) to 10,072.01 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 8.30 points (0.42 percent) to 1,983.29 at 1630 GMT.
The main broad-market indicator, the Standard and Poor's 500 index, crept up 2.82 points (0.25 percent) to 1,133.02.
The markets opened modestly lower and turned positive in late morning amid a drop in crude oil prices. New York's main crude oil contract plummeted below 50 dollars a barrel, sliding 1.96 dollars to 49.50 dollars.
Investors also were assessing Oracle's raised offer for rival PeopleSoft and strong personal spending data but the session was expected see cautious trading due to the uncertainty over the outcome of Tuesday's presidential election.
"For many, just getting past the election should kick off a nice technical rally as we enter the November to January favorable historical timeframe," said Marc Pado, US market strategist, at Cantor Fitzgerald.
RBC Dain Rauscher analyst Bob Dickey said it remained unclear whether the market can build on its strong gains of the past week.
"More volatility is likely early this week, and hopefully, the market can find a trend after the election excitement quiets down," he said.
"The markets rallied modestly last week, and because many stocks bounced, there is now an overbought condition. What is needed is some real power later this week, which would indicate that the current strength is the start of a meaningful trend, and not just another bounce such as we have been seeing all year."
The economic news was mixed. Consumer spending rose 0.6 percent in September, in line with expectations, while personal incomes rose a weaker-than-expected 0.2 percent.
Growth in the US manufacturing sector appeared to slow after the Institute of Supply Management's manufacturing index fell to 56.8 percent from 58.5 percent in September. Meanwhile, spending on US construction projects was unchanged in September after rising a revised 0.9 percent in August.
PeopleSoft shares surged 2.20 or 10.6 percent to 22.97 after Oracle boosted its hostile bid for the business software firm to 8.8 billion dollars, or 24 dollars a share. Oracle edged up a penny to 12.67.
Tyco International climbed 34 cents to 31.49 after the industrial conglomerate posted forecast-beating fourth quarter results amid double-digit percentage revenue growth in its electronics, healthcare and engineered products divisions.
Delta Air Lines fell 21 cents to 5.24 after the struggling carrier said it has obtained a commitment for 500 million dollars in financing from GE Commercial Finance.
Elsewhere, Merck shares tumbled 2.26 to 29.05 on a Wall Street Journal report that the drug maker downplayed the risk of problems associated with its recently withdrawn Vioxx drug used in the treatment of arthritis pain.
Wal-Mart shares dipped 35 cents to 53.57 after the world's largest retailer reported a 2.8 percent rise in October same-store sales, but said shopping traffic had dropped off in the last week due in part to Halloween falling on a Sunday.
Bonds were weaker. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond rose to 4.054 percent from 4.029 percent Friday and that on the 30-year bond to 4.819 percent against 4.794 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
11/01/2004 16:37 GMT - AFP