NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Stocks sizzled Wednesday, as Cisco's upbeat earnings and news helped spark a broad-based rally, one session after a big selloff.

The tech-fueled Nasdaq composite (up 22.02 to 2,266.98, Charts) and the Dow Jones industrial average (up 108.86 to 10,858.62, Charts) both added around 1 percent.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index (up 10.87 to 1,265.65, Charts) added about 0.9 percent.

Treasury prices slipped, boosting the corresponding yields and the dollar gained versus other major currencies.

Gold prices rose and oil prices tumbled.

The rally was positive, but perhaps overdue, said Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co., noting that the stock market has been trading sideways to lower since late January.

Much like Tuesday's broad selloff, which was not sparked by any one particular event, Hogan said there was no one catalyst for Wednesday's rally but rather, market momentum and computer-driven program trading.

"We came in today and felt relatively upbeat about John Chambers' outlook for Cisco and that gave a lift to tech," he said. But the strength of the rally went well beyond that, he added, citing the likelihood of late-afternoon bargain hunting.

The focus in the short term will turn to the economic news, Hogan added. Thursday brings the weekly jobless claims report and the read on wholesale inventories, while Friday brings the read on the December trade balance.

Nasdaq and S&P futures pointed to a flat open for stocks Thursday, when fair value is taken into account.

Cisco Systems (up $1.31 to $19.40, Research) jumped 7.3 percent after reporting higher-than-expected quarterly earnings and issuing an upbeat outlook for the current quarter late Tuesday.

That helped fire up the broader tech sector and in turn, the broader market. The good news was particularly welcome to stock holders after Tuesday's steep selloff, in which tech, commodities and metals all slumped, dragging down the overall market.

"I think the positive earnings, from Cisco and others, have given the market a chance to stabilize," said Peter Cardillo, chief market analyst at S.W. Bach & Co.

Stocks rallied out of the gate in early January on bets that the Federal Reserve's interest-rate hiking campaign was almost done. But the enthusiasm wavered as investors began to realize that rates may keep rising for longer than had been hoped for.

The rhetoric following the last Fed policy meeting at the end of January left the door open for more rate hikes, and stocks have been struggling since.

"I think we're likely to remain in a broader trading range for the time being," Cardillo said.

The Cisco news lit a fire under the broader tech sector, which was in need of some good news after a mixed earnings period.

Disappointing quarterly results from Google (up $1.16 to $369.08, Research), Yahoo! (down $0.02 to $33.00, Research) and others have caused tech investors to bail out of a variety of sectors in the last few weeks, making the Cisco news all the more welcome to investors.

Also helping the sector: Dell (up $1.83 to $31.52, Research), which rallied 6.2 percent after research firm Bernstein upgraded it to "outperform" from "market perform."

Dell rivals including IBM (up $1.15 to $80.80, Research) and Hewlett-Packard (up $1.64 to $32.01, Research) gained in tandem.

Meanwhile, Dow component Pfizer (up $1.43 to $26.37, Research) said late Tuesday that it may sell or spin off its consumer products division, which includes Listerine and other products. The shares rallied 5.7 percent Wednesday.

Shares of Univision Communications (up $3.66 to $34.20, Research) jumped 12 percent on reports that the company is looking at various options including the possibility of putting itself up for sale. The company is the largest Spanish-language broadcaster in the U.S.

But General Motors (down $0.82 to $21.99, Research) was a drag on the Dow 30 for the second day in a row, losing 3.6 percent on an analyst downgrade.

Deutsche Bank Securities downgraded GM to "sell," from "hold," and cut its 12-month price target to $17 from $22 in a negative response to GM's restructuring announcement Tuesday.

Market breadth was positive and volume was robust. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers by nine to seven on volume of 1.79 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners by nearly three to two on volume of 2.23 billion shares.

U.S. light crude oil for March delivery fell 54 cents to settle at $62.55 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price see-sawed through the session following the release of a mixed weekly oil inventory report in the morning.

Treasury prices slipped, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 4.58 percent from 4.56 percent late Tuesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar gained versus the euro and the yen.

COMEX gold for April delivery fell 90 cents to settle at $550.10 after tumbling more than $19 in Tuesday's big selloff.

Investors took in stride the afternoon release of a Federal Reserve survey that showed a decline in consumer and mortgage loan applications over the last few months -- a further sign that the housing market is slowing down.

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