NEW YORK - Technology bolstered Wall Street slightly on Monday, as investors bought shares after analysts' comments on BlackBerry maker Research in Motion and Cisco Systems.
Sentiment also got a lift from American International Group Inc's deal to sell its Alico foreign life insurance unit to MetLife Inc for about $15.5 billion.
MetLife's stock rose 4.7 percent to $40.74 and AIG gained 3.6 percent to $29.10.
"The news continues to signal there's more (deals) to come and helps put a floor in the market," said Kurt Brunner, portfolio manager at Swarthmore Group in Philadelphia.
Research in Motion shot up 6.1 percent to $73.75, leading the Nasdaq higher after an analyst upgraded the stock on expectations the company will report strong quarterly results and issue a robust outlook.
Sprint Nextel shares climbed 4.6 percent to $3.43 and led the S&P telecommunications sector's index higher after the company's chief financial officer said he hoped to see revenue declines slowing this year and a turn to revenue growth several quarters ahead.
Shares of Clearwire Corp, which is majority owned by Sprint, jumped 12 percent to $7.58 on Nasdaq.
The market move "is more news-specific today than anything in a broad sense," Brunner said.
