Cisco executive says clients uncertain

"It's fair to say there's a great deal of uncertainty among customers," Don Proctor, Cisco's senior vice president in charge of collaboration and software, told a Morgan Stanley technology conference.

He said it was hard to say whether conditions were now stabilizing or worsening due to poor visibility.

The world's biggest manufacturer of routers and switches is often seen as an early benchmark for global technology spending.

Cisco shares were up 82 cents or 5.7 percent at $15.21 in early afternoon trading, coming off their earlier peak of $15.35.

The company has forecast revenue in the current, fiscal third quarter to fall 15 percent to 20 percent from a year earlier.

(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)