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KAI RYSSDAL: The Dow and the S&P were kinda OK today. The Nasdaq, though, put on a full percent and a half. Oracle reported a larger than expected increase in new software sales. And Research in Motion — they make the BlackBerry and all its variants — they reported good third quarter results thanks to adding a lot of new customers outside North America. And it gave a strong forecast for next quarter as well. All of which has investors hopeful that businesses are finally starting to spend money again.

From New York, Ashley Milne Tyte reports.

Ashley Milne-Tyte: Corporations haven’t been spending a lot of money on technology lately. Rob Enderle says Oracle’s and RIM’s results were surprising, because no one expected companies to start spending again until next year.

Rob Enderle: Particularly with Oracle, which is a very expensive, large company vendor, the fact that they’re showing strength does seem to bode well for the overall economy.

And he says it’s a positive sign that the personal technology side of business spending is ticking up at the same time.

Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies says IT managers are itching to make some new investments in tech, from servers to software, and many are starting right around now. He says the news from Oracle and RIM tallies with results from companies like Intel, which has already seen an uptick in orders.

Roger Kay: All that pattern of investment looks like business spending conditions picking up in general. And of course, at some point, that will herald a rise in employment, which will be a relief. I think that’s the last stage of recovery when jobs begin to get created.

He says as they upgrade IT systems companies are readying themselves for taking on more staff.

In New York, I’m Ashley Milne-Tyte for Marketplace.