Big Tech Leads Late Rally to Higher Realms, With Net Stocks Lagging
Nasdaq
3000 was nearly a reality, but buyers stepped in before the index reached the pivotal level, with short-covering pushing the tech sector into the plus side by the end of the session.
The Nasdaq Composite ended the day up 106.06, or 3.4%, at 3270.61. That was more than 200 points away from its low of 3042.66 earlier today. Now where did we see something like this before? That's right. It was Monday, when the Nasdaq closed about 200 points from its lows.
Big tech led the rally.
Cisco
(CSCO) - Get Report
held support at the 50 level again, trading as low as 50 3/16 before close up 4 37/64, or 9%, at 55 1/8. On Monday, it bottomed at 50 before closing at 55 1/4, while it held at 50 1/4 Tuesday as well. And
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Report
finished up 2 3/8, or 3.8%, at 65 9/16 as its ongoing struggles with the government persisted.
Internet stocks lagged the rest of tech.
TheStreet.com Internet Sector
index closed up 12.44, or 1.6%, at 771.25, though it traded as low as 709.43. Much of the DOT's gains could be tied to
eBay
(EBAY) - Get Report
, which closed up 13 15/16, or 12%, at 129 15/16 before it split 2 for 1 as of the close of trading today.
Among other gainers,
Inktomi
(INKT)
closed up 9 13/16, or 9.7%, at 111 5/16 after trading as low as 96 3/16.
RealNetworks
(RNWK) - Get Report
closed up 2 3/4, or 8.5%, at 34 15/16 on the day it unveiled new technology it designed with
Intel
(INTC) - Get Report
to improve quality and performance for streaming and download-and-play video for Internet users.
Also,
i2 Technologies
(ITWO)
closed up 7 5/16, or 8.3%, at 95 5/16 after trading as low as 81. And
Yahoo!
(YHOO)
finished up 4 7/16, or 3.8%, at 122 3/4 after trading as low as 112. On the downside,
priceline.com
(PCLN)
finished off 4, or 9.9%, at 36 1/2. The losses likely had something to do with today's announced
merger between
United Airlines
parent
UAL
(UAL) - Get Report
and
US Airways
(U) - Get Report
.
