NEW YORK (AP) -- Cisco Systems Inc. said Tuesday that sales would be weaker than analysts had forecast in the next few quarters, but investors who had expected worse were cheered.

The world's largest maker of computer networking gear said orders would grow 8 percent in the current quarter, as customers, particularly telecom carriers, pinch their money.

Investors had been expecting the weak economy to catch up to the company. It's the dominant player in an industry that has been growing dramatically, but at the same time, its routers and switches are capital investments, the kind that suffer in an economic downturn.

Cisco shares were up $1.58, or 7 percent, at $24.25 in extended trading after the release of the results. The stock has slid from the year's high of $27.72 set June 5 as investors prepared for a weak forecast.

For the fiscal fourth quarter that ended July 25, Cisco reported earnings of $2.01 billion, or 33 cents per share. In the same period last year, Cisco earned $1.93 billion, or 31 cents per share.

Sales rose 10 percent to $10.4 billion.

Excluding one-time items, earnings were 40 cents per share. Analysts had expected Cisco to report earnings of 39 cents per share on $10.3 billion in revenue, according to a Thomson Financial poll.

Chief Financial Officer Frank Calderoni said the results, coming in "a quarter of somewhat uncertain

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil traders sent crude prices tumbling as low as $118 a barrel Tuesday on the growing belief that a U.S. economic slowdown and high energy costs are curbing consumer demand for gasoline and other petroleum products.

Crude oil finished the day just above $119 a barrel -- its lowest settlement price since early May.

Crude's decline is giving Americans more relief at the pump. A gallon of regular gasoline on average fell another penny overnight to $3.871, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. Gas prices have fallen four straight weeks for the first time since December; prices are off 5.9 percent from their July high as U.S. motorists cut back on their driving to save money.

A day after plunging as much as $5 a barrel in a dramatic sell-off, crude continued its downward trend. Gasoline and heating oil prices also fell, while natural gas ended unchanged after Monday's steep drop.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell $2.24 to settle at $119.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest close since May 2. During trading, the contract dipped to $118 -- nearly $30 below the trading high of $147.27 reached July 11.

"The market psychology has finally shifted," said Stephen Schork, an analyst and trader in Villanova, Pa.,

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Confronted by problems at every turn -- rising unemployment, shaky growth, credit troubles and creeping inflation -- the Federal Reserve left an important interest rate unchanged, taking a gamble that for now the best move was no move at all. The next direction for rates probably is up but that's not likely until next year.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and all but one of his central bank colleagues agreed Tuesday to leave its key rate alone at 2 percent for the second straight meeting.

In turn, the prime lending rate for millions of consumers and businesses remained at 5 percent. The prime rate applies to certain credit cards, home equity lines of credit and other lines.

"Although downside risks to growth remain, the upside risks to inflation are also of significant concern," the Fed said. Policymakers are faced with dueling problems: weak economic growth and advancing inflation. To treat one, risks aggravating the other. The Fed indicated Tuesday that each problem poses about equal risks to the economy.

It was welcome news to Wall Street, however, where stocks put in their best showing in months on relief that the Fed's assessment of the economy and inflation wasn't worse. The Dow Jones industrials closed up 331.62 points at 11,615.77, its biggest one-day point gain since April 1, when it kicked off the second quarter with a nearly 400 point rally.

Many economists believe the Fed will leave rates where they are at its next meeting on Sept. 16 and