The Night Watch: Oracle, WorldCom Tick Higher

Technology stocks were mostly higher after the close, and traders were coming back to some names that have been unloved lately on Wall Street.

Oracle (ORCL), which just before the closing bell said it would at least meet analysts' estimates for the fourth quarter, was ticking up 0.2% to $8.68. Oracle closed the regular session strong, finishing up 10.7% to $8.66.

WorldCom (WCOM) was adding 2.5% to $1.45 on word it would get out of the wireless resales business and cut some of the 2,200 jobs at the division.

Volume was stronger than it has been in the last few days. In the first 90 minutes of trading, around 3.8 million shares changed hands among the top-20 volume movers on the Instinet platform.

Among other active stocks, AT&T (T) was down 2.1% to $11.40, and Intel (INTC) was losing 0.1% to $28.15.

Otherwise stocks were stronger. The Nasdaq 100 Unit Trust (QQQ) was up 0.1% to $29.70. Palm (PALM) was gaining 1.2%, and Sun Micro (SUNW) was adding 0.3%. Microsoft (MSFT) was up 0.2%.

Altera (ALTR) was climbing 1.6% to $16.86 after the company said it expects to see sequential revenue growth this quarter of 4% to 6%, sticking with a prediction it made in its most recent earnings report. Competitor Xilinx (XLNX) was gaining 0.6% to $32.08.

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