Stocks rose yesterday as investors picked up many recently beaten-down technology shares after Wall Street's biggest brokerages told clients it was time to scoop up US equities.

"There's some bottom fishing and some cash being put to work," said Mr Richard Babson, president of Babson-United Investment Advisors, which manages $1.8 billion. "But there's no blizzard of activity. The blizzard is happening outside."

Trading volume was light, as New York City and the rest of the northeastern United States braced for a major winter storm forecast to bring extreme weather conditions and up to two feet of snow to the region.

Volumes were thin with 878 million shares trading on the New York Stock Exchange, one of its lightest trading days this year. Some 1.4 billion shares traded on Nasdaq.