CORRECT: U.S. Stocks Steady After Friday's Sharp Drop
An earlier version incorrectly spelled the name of Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks moved higher Monday, with investors cautiously optimistic before next week's policy-setting meeting of the Federal Reserve, where the central bank is expected to trim rates after Friday's shockingly weak payrolls report.
"We have to get through a couple of obvious landmarks here -- there is caution ahead of 9-11, with lingering concerns about some attempt somewhere on the anniversary, and then we're only a week away from the FOMC [Federal Open Market Committee meeting," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 41 points at 13,154.7, with 24 of its 30 components trading higher, led by the technology sector, including Intel Corp. , which gained 1% after the chip maker lifted its third-quarter revenue guidance.
The S&P 500 was up 3.3 points at 1,456.9, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 7 points at 2,572.3.
Trading volume hit 118 million at the New York Stock Exchange, with advancing stocks ahead of decliners by 4 to 3. At the Nasdaq, 201 million were exchanged, with advancers outpacing decliners by roughly the same 4 to 3 ratio.
Fed factors
In the first of four Fed speeches scheduled Monday, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said the 4,000 jobs lost in August should be viewed in the context of "recently positive reports in retail sales."
Likely to draw even more interest is Tuesday's scheduled speech in Berlin by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. "If they are going to do something, they are going to have to start indicating it to the market," Pado said.
Stocks on Friday dropped sharply after unexpected news that payrolls contracted in August, the first such decline in nearly four years, fueling worries of a recession.
The disappointing jobs count also cemented thoughts of a Federal Reserve rate cut next week, but the head of the Philadelphia Fed cast doubt on the scenario in a weekend speech.
"Disruptions in financial markets can be addressed using the tools available to the Fed without necessarily having to make a shift in the overall direction of monetary policy," Charles Plosser said in a speech Saturday to a community bankers meeting in Hawaii. .
The commercial paper market was expected to draw investor attention, with about $120 billion of such debt due for renewal this week. In addition, overnight inter-bank lending rates in dollars continued to hover well above the Fed funds rate.
At 3 p.m. Eastern, the Federal Reserve is expected to report on consumer credit for July.
Active stocks
Active stocks included Countrywide Financial Corp., which fell 2.9% after the nation's largest mortgage lender's its late Friday announcement that it would cut up to 20% of its workforce. See .
The tech sector's also drew investor focus, with Apple Inc. up about 3% after its early announcement that it sold its one millionth iPhone, putting the consumer electronics maker ahead of its own forecasts.
Yahoo Inc. likely to hold onto the Web-search-advertising businesses that it had considered outsourcing to Google Inc. or Microsoft Corp , the Wall Street Journal reported.
Advanced Micro Devices rolled out its latest microchip, Barcelona, which is designed to be the heart of corporate server networks. AMD has lost market share recently in the server market to arch-rival Intel.
The FTSE 100 rose 0.3% in London. The Nikkei 225 dropped 2.2% in Tokyo after weak economic data there.
The dollar bounced off lowers vs. the yen, up 0.34% at 113.69 yen.
At the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures gained $3.80 to $713.50 an ounce. .
Crude-oil futures were down 42 cents at $76.30 a barrel.
By Kate Gibson