Stocks were mostly lower early on, with the Internet sector a bright spot.

TheStreet.com Internet Sector

was up 5 to 574.

TheStreet.com E-Commerce Index

was up 2 to 106.

The

Nasdaq Composite Index

was down 10 to 2383.

Elsewhere, the

Dow Jones Industrial Average

was down 9 to 9685. The

S&P 500

was down 4 to 1276. The

Russell 2000

was up 1 to 400.

The 30-year Treasury bond was down 9/32 to 95 19/32, yielding 5.55%.

Most Up at Open -- NYSE

America Online (AOL) , up 2 1/2 to 92 1/2

: Henry Blodget, Internet analyst at Merrill Lynch, who until

recently worked at

CIBC Oppenheimer

, has rated

America Online

(AOL)

both near-term and long-term buy.

Most Up at Open -- Nasdaq

Lycos (LCOS) , up 13 1/4 to 109 1/2

: Lycos' largest shareholder,

CMGI

(CMGI)

, has hired

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter

to seek other suitors for Lycos in an effort to thwart the company's planned merger with

USA Networks

(USAI) - Get Report

,

The Wall Street Journal

reported. The

Journal

reported that CMGI's chairman and chief executive, David S. Wetherell, said one of the options being considered is CMGI's outright purchase of Lycos.

Most Down at Open -- NYSE

Sap (SAP) - Get Report, down 1 7/16 to 25 15/16

: The German software company fell on concerns over slowing growth.

Most Down at Open -- Nasdaq

WPP Group (WPPGY) , down 2 3/4 to 86

.