Techs lead advance

The Nasdaq leads the charge, thanks to Cisco's earnings and strength in Microsoft. Crude prices end lower. Paste this link into your favorite RSS desktop reader See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS By Alexandra Twin, CNNMoney.com senior writer NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks jumped Wednesday, ending a choppy session in positive territory, as investors welcomed falling oil prices, Cisco Systems' improved earnings and talk of a big share buyback plan at Microsoft. The Dow Jones industrial average and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index both gained around 0.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 1.2%. Stocks slumped in the morning as Freddie Mac's big quarterly loss soured sentiment, but the tone of the market began to improve near midday as oil prices retreated. The rally hit its stride in the late afternoon. "I think it's a... [read full story]