US STOCKS-Wall St falls on profit taking; Cisco falls late

                                
 * Dow notches eighth day of gains, first since March 2010
                                
 * Cisco shares fall after the bell as margins disappoint
                                
 * Disney, Coke shares rise after results
                                
 * Energy shares drag; Chevron Dow's weakest stock
                                
 * S&P, Nasdaq fall 0.3 pct, Dow up less than 0.1 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US]
 (Adds detail on Cisco results)
                                
 By Ryan Vlastelica
                                
 NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Investors took profits after a
recent rise in U.S. stocks on Wednesday but a late-hour rally
in Bank of America shares helped the Dow squeeze out its eighth
straight day of gains.
                                
 Market participants remain confident that solid corporate
earnings will inspire further advances, but a recent string of
lightly traded sessions raises worries that buying interest at
current levels has dried up.
                                
 Dow component Cisco Systems Inc <CSCO.O> reported its
second-quarter results, and though the network equipment
maker's profit and sales beat expectations, its margins
disappointed and the stock sank 9.4 percent to $19.97 in
extended trading. For details, see [ID:nN08294447]
                                
 Energy and materials stocks weighed on indexes, pressured
by weakness in emerging markets, a source of heavy demand for
raw goods. Chevron Corp <CVX.N> was the weakest stock on the
Dow, falling 1.5 percent to $96.24, followed by Alcoa <AA.N>,
off 1.4 percent to $17.16. The Morgan Stanley commodity-related
equity index <.CRX> fell 1 percent.
                                
 "We've had such a great run that we're seeing some
profit-taking even though there's really no information out
there that's taking us down," said Tom Wirth, senior investment
officer for Chemung Canal Trust Co, which manages $1.5 billion
in Elmira, New York.
                                
 Dow components Walt Disney Co <DIS.N> and Coca-Cola Co
<KO.N> advanced after reporting strong quarterly sales. Disney
was the strongest performer on the index, surging 5.3 percent
to $43.36 and Coke gained 0.4 percent to $63.15. [ID:nN0883045]
and [ID:nN08101124]
                                
 "Earnings are very strong and they're what's keeping the
market higher," Wirth said. "Without Disney and Coke today, the
Dow's losses would be a lot greater."
                                
 Gains in Bank of America <BAC.N> in the final hour of
trading were enough to drag the Dow into positive territory.
Shares rose after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said
privately he doesn't know if his cache of internal BofA data
contains any big news or scandal, according to three people
familiar with Assange's private discussions about the material.
[ID:nN09188345]
                                
 BofA rose 0.2 percent to $14.64, erasing earlier losses.
                                
 Trading volume continued to be weak, with only a total of
7.36 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the
American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, below last year's daily
average of 8.47 billion.
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 6.74 points,
or 0.06 percent, at 12,239.89. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> was down 3.69 points, or 0.28 percent, at 1,320.88. The
Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 7.98 points, or 0.29
percent, at 2,789.07.
                                
 Both the Dow and the S&P 500 are at 2-1/2-year highs.
                                
 Whole Foods Market Inc <WFMI.O> surged 8.6 percent to
$58.35 after the bell after it reported quarterly earnings that
topped expectations and raised its full-year profit view.
[ID:nN09168038]
                                
 Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told a congressional
committee that the labor market remains sluggish and he
continues to believe that inflation will remain subdued. Wall
Street's reaction to Bernanke's comments was muted.
[ID:nN09164124]
                                
 Shares of exchange operators rose after news that Deutsche
Boerse <DB1Gn.DE> was in advanced merger talks with NYSE
Euronext <NYX.N>. NYSE shares jumped 14 percent to $38.10 while
CBOE Holdings Inc <CBOE.O> rose 4.3 percent at $25.51 as
investors eyed further matchups. [ID:nLDE71808S]
                                
 In the financial sector, shares of Wells Fargo & Co <WFC.N>
dropped 2.8 percent to $33.13 after the bank said its chief
financial officer will retire. The structure of the CFO's
retirement raised questions, analysts said. [ID:nN08108469]
                                
 Almost two stocks fell for every one that rose on both the
New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.