US STOCKS-Wall St gains on economic data; Cisco boosts techs

                                
  
                                
 * Non-farm productivity rises at fastest pace in 6 years
                                
 * Jobless claims drop to 10-month low
                                
 * Cisco results lift tech stocks
                                
 * Dow up 1.7 pct, S&P up 1.5 pct, Nasdaq up 2.2 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news, click [STXNEWS/US]
 (Updates to afternoon, changes byline)
                                
 By Angela Moon
                                
 NEW YORK, Nov 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks jumped on Thursday after
a rise in business productivity and a drop in jobless claims lifted
investor confidence in the economy, while strong results from Cisco
bolstered tech stocks.
                                
 U.S. non-farm productivity rose more than expected in the third
quarter as companies squeezed more output from a smaller pool of
labor, while fewer U.S. workers filed new jobless insurance claims
than forecast last week -- hitting a 10-month low. [ID:nN05106320]
                                
 "The improvement in productivity of 9.5 percent and the decline
in jobless claims were very positive numbers," said Hugh Johnson,
chief investment officer of Johnson Illington Advisors in Albany,
NY.
                                
 "What this week did was give us our first glimpse of October. And
the conclusion you have to reach is that October was a good month for
the economy or that the economy is indeed recovering."
                                
  Cisco <CSCO.O> shares gained 2.3 percent to $23.82 after the
network equipment company reported earnings late on Wednesday. The
technology bellwether posted a stronger-than-expected profit,
authorized up to an additional $10 billion in share buybacks and said
business was recovering. For details, see [ID:nN04515993]
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 161.35 points, or
1.65 percent, to 9,963.49. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX>
added 15.29 points, or 1.46 percent, to 1,061.79. The Nasdaq
Composite Index <.IXIC> jumped 45.52 points, or 2.21 percent, to
2,101.04.
                                
 On Friday, the Labor Department is expected to report that fewer
jobs were cut in October than in the previous month. But the jobless
rate is expected to rise to 9.9 percent, exceeding a 26-year high of
9.8 percent in September. Economists polled by Reuters have forecast
a loss of 175,000 jobs in October, sharply below the 263,000 jobs cut
in the previous month.
                                
 Tech stocks climbed across the board, with the NYSE Arca Network
index <.NWX> up 1.9 percent, while the PHLX Semiconductor index
<.SOXX> climbed 2.4 percent.
                                
 Shares of IMS Health Inc <RX.N> soared 23.4 percent to $20.74
after the company agreed to be bought by TPG and CPP Investment board
and helped lift the S&P Healthcare index <.GSPA> 1.4 percent. The
deal was valued at $5.2 billion, including the assumption of debt.
[ID:nWNAB1118]
                                
 But CVS Caremark Corp <CVS.N> tumbled 20.1 percent to $28.88
after comments from Chief Executive Tom Ryan on weakness in the
pharmacy benefit management business.
                                
 U.S. retail chains reported October sales that rebounded from the
lows in the prior year, but more than half missed Wall Street's
heightened expectations as consumers spend selectively headed into
the holiday season.
                                
 The S&P retail index <.RLX> rose 1.4 percent. [ID:nN04548927]
 (Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Jan Paschal)