* Wachovia recommends Verizon, AT&T
* Interbank dollar rates ease
* Energy plays keep lid on Dow, S&P 500
* Biotech lifts Nasdaq after broker raises Biogen
* Dow up 0.2 pct, S&P dips 0.01 pct, Nasdaq up 0.8 pct
(Updates to midday)
By Kristina Cooke
NEW YORK, Nov 3 (Reuters) -U.S. stocks mostly rose on
Monday amid signs of further thawing in the credit markets and
after Wachovia said telephone companies Verizon <VZ.N> and
AT&T <T.N> were safe havens in an economic slowdown.
The Nasdaq rose 1 percent as investors snapped up
biotechnology shares following broker upgrades of Biogen
<BIIB.O>. Dow components Verizon and AT&T helped lead the
blue-chip average higher.
But the S&P 500 dipped as concerns about the depth of the
economic slowdown nagged after a report showed U.S.
manufacturing shrank further in October. The Institute for
Supply Management said its index of national factory activity
fell to 38.9 in October, a 26-year low, from 43.5 in
September. For more see []. The level of 50
separates contraction from expansion.
Traders said the market's action was likely to be muted
until after Tuesday's U.S. presidential election.
"With the election now a day away, that will take that
uncertainty away," said Rick Meckler, president of investment
firm LibertyView Capital Management in New York.
"The market has dropped to such a great extent," he added,
"that I think investors are trying to figure out: Has it all
been discounted at this point?"
The Dow Jones industrial average <> rose 18.64 points,
or 0.20 percent, to 9,343.65. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> was down just 0.05 of a point, or 0.01 percent, at
968.70. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> gained 14.34
points, or 0.83 percent, to 1,735.29, after earlier rising 1
percent to a session high at 1,738.53.
Rates that banks charge for lending dollars and euros to
each other fell further on Monday, extending last week's
decline in response to ongoing central bank measures to supply
financial institutions with cash.
Shares of Biogen, among stocks seen positioned to fare
better in a slumping economy, jumped 8.2 percent to $46.05,
putting the stock among the Nasdaq's standouts.
Deutsche Bank recommended a "buy" on Biogen, while Robert
W. Baird, a research firm, raised its view on the company to
"outperform" from "neutral."
Shares of Gilead Sciences <GILD.O>, another biotech
company, climbed 4.1 percent to $47.78, while those of Amgen
<AMGN.O> advanced 2.8 percent to $61.55.
Citigroup raised its rating on chip makers, including
Nvidia Corp <NVDA.O>, whose stock jumped nearly 2 percent to
$8.93, and Integrated Device Technology <IDTI.O>, up 3.6
percent at $6.59 on Nasdaq.
Elsewhere, Wal-Mart Stores <WMT.N> rose 1.5 percent to
$56.65 on the New York Stock Exchange after a brokerage raised
its rating on the retailer's stock.
Declines in energy companies' shares, which followed oil
prices lower, kept a lid on the Dow's gains. An S&P index of
energy stocks <.GSPE> fell 2.3 percent. U.S. front-month crude
oil <CLc1> slid $2.26 to $65.55 a barrel at midday on the New
York Mercantile Exchange.
Investors are bracing for Friday's report on October U.S.
nonfarm payrolls. Economists polled by Reuters have forecast
the loss of 200,000 jobs in October, compared with the 159,000
jobs shed in September.
Democratic contender Barack Obama heads into Tuesday's
election leading Republican opponent John McCain in six of
eight key battleground states, including the big prizes of
Florida and Ohio, according to a series of Reuters/Zogby polls
released on Monday.
(Additional reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Jan
Paschal)
