The Night Watch: Evening Bargain Hunters Scoop Up Tech Issues
(Updated from 6:57 p.m. EST)
Big-hearted investors picked up downtrodden technology stocks in tonight's extended trading session, taking many of them in from the cold.
After dropping 109 points to 2598 on Thursday and closing below 2600 for the first time since Aug. 12, 1999, the
Nasdaq Composite Index posted a 47.3 point gain to finish at 2645.2 today, giving beaten down tech a bit of much-needed relief. Still, the Comp is down nearly 50% since last March. For the week, the Nasdaq finished behind 8.9%.
On the night watch, shares of
Intel
(INTC) - Get Intel Corporation Report
, climbed back 2.4% on
Instinet
and edged up 2% on
Island
, having tumbled more than 10% during the day.
Networking giant
Cisco
(CSCO) - Get Cisco Systems, Inc. Report
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tacked on 1.5% on Instinet to its 1.3% daytime increase, while software honcho
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Microsoft Corporation Report
erased its regular session 1.3% loss with gains of more than 2% on Instinet and Island.
WorldCom
(WCOM)
added 1.6% on the after-hours market. But fellow telecom issue
Ericsson
(ERICY)
did not fare as well in after-hours trading: It dropped 1%. Both stocks gained more than 7% amid today's Nasdaq upswing.
Investors were less kind to
NorthPoint Communications Group
(NPNT)
, which shed 47% to 53 cents on Island. Earlier this week, the company said it would explore "legal remedies" against
Verizon Communications
(VZ) - Get Verizon Communications Inc. Report
, which backed out of an agreement to purchase a controlling stake in NorthPoint.
This information is provided by Instinet, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reuters (RTRSY) . For further information, please contact Instinet at www.instinet.com.
Island ECN, owned by Datek Online, offers trading, mainly in Nasdaq-listed stocks, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST.
Confused?
TheStreet.com
explains how the rules change when the sun goes down in Investing Basics: Night Owl, a section devoted to after-hours trading.
