10 Tech Giants Hit Fresh New Highs

December has been rally time for tech shops like Apple, Amazon and Qualcomm as investors chase gains.
By Scott Moritz ,

NEW YORK, (

TheStreet

) --

Amazon

(AMZN) - Get Report

,

Apple

(AAPL) - Get Report

-- and those are just the companies that start with A - and are among the 10 tech stocks to hit fresh new one-year, or multi-year highs Wednesday.

The upswing is just the latest move by the tech sector which has been on a tear to close out the year. The rise has lifted the Nasdaq to a successive string of two-year highs this month.

"Technology is cyclical," says BayBridge Capital's Blake Bath. "The actions of the Fed, and the tax cutting actions of the Congress are viewed as extending the up cycle and buoying tech," says Bath.

And while the macroeconomic conditions offer some temporary fair winds, some tech shops were also enjoying a roaring success moving products out the door.

Amazon, fueled by estimates of far stronger Kindle sales than expected, hit $185.65 early Wednesday. Not only is that a high for the year, it is Amazon's all time high since it went public in 1997, at the early stages of Internet boom.

Similarly Apple continued its steady climb hitting $325.06 Wednesday. The stock is up 62% in the past year. What's driving Apple: Hot products. Apple has a holiday success with the iPad and the tantalizing promise of the iPhone landing at

Verizon

(VZ) - Get Report

early next year.

The

Verizon iPhone

has also been good for Verizon shares, which hit $35, a one-year high. Hanging right in there was phone peer

AT&T

(T) - Get Report

, which was close to a 52-week high and up 4% for the year as of Wednesday.

The tech rally has also lifted a few other stocks to multi-year highs.

Tech suppliers like network equipment specialists

Juniper

(JNPR) - Get Report

and

Ciena

(CIEN) - Get Report

as well as wireless chip shop

Qualcomm

(QCOM) - Get Report

hit two year or more highs Wednesday.

Juniper shares are now up 41% this year and well above the pre-financial crisis/recession level of 2007.

Data storage giant

EMC

(EMC)

went above $23 early Wednesday, a new high for the year and a 31% gain since January.

Financial software darling

Intuit

(INTU) - Get Report

jumped above $50 Wednesday -- a new high marking a 63% rise for the year.

Even contract manufacturer

Jabil Circuit

(JBL) - Get Report

got into the club by surging over the $20 mark Wednesday on a strong earnings report this week. Jabil is up 16% for the year.

Comcast

(CMCSA) - Get Report

rounds out the top-10-tech-stocks-at-new-highs list Wednesday. The Philly cable shop was handed no surprises by the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules Tuesday. Comcast shares, which we picked as one of the three winners of 2010, hit a two year high and are up 32% for the year.

One notable losers among the downfallen in

the big tech stock showdown of 2010

is

Cisco

(CSCO) - Get Report

. The networking giant stumbled badly last quarter and remains down 18% on the year.

--Written by Scott Moritz in New York.>To see these stocks in action, visit the 10 Tech Giants portfolio on Stockpickr.>To contact this writer, click here: Scott Moritz, or email: scott.moritz@thestreet.com.To follow Scott on Twitter, go to http://twitter.com/MoritzDispatch.>To send a tip, email: tips@thestreet.com.

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