Internet Shares Rise on Ad Market Hopes

Some Internet juggernauts made waves on Wall Street Thursday. With no specific news provoking the buying, experts guessed that investors are looking ahead to the recovery of the advertising market.

"I don't know specifically why Yahoo! is up two bucks today," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak. "But I'm guessing it's perhaps the sense that maybe advertising on the Internet is improving."

Shares of Yahoo! $18.95, up 11%, though far below their 52-week high of $43.38. Web advertiser DoubleClick (DCLK) closed up 11% to $11.13. And online retailer Amazon.com (AMZN) gained 2.9% to $12.10. Meanwhile, Internet software provider Inktomi (INKT) gained 13.6% to $6.61, and rival Akamai Technologies (AKAM) rose 2.3% to $6.21. ...