Stocks closed higher as investors continued to cheer an upbeat jobs report and welcomed lower borrowing costs in Spain and Italy after German government said it supported the ECB’s bond-purchasing program. Tech stocks started the week on a strong note, with Cisco, Hewlett-Packard and Juniper leading the rally. Cisco rose 2.1% after analysts at Deutsche Bank and Oppenheimer said they expect strong quarterly results and forecasts. Cognizant climbed almost 11% after better-than-expected quarterly results and solid full-year forecast. Best Buy surged more than 13.3% after its founder and former chairman Richard Schulze offered to take the electronics retailer private. Implied volatility inched lower on moderate trading volumes.
