MARKET CLOSE: ''Net, software stocks move higher

Technology stocks gained ground Tuesday as the Nasdaq composite picked up 45 points to finish at 2,441.25. The Dow Jones industrial average shaved off 49 points to close at 10,572.55.

“This is such a jittery market that there may be a feeling it was somewhat overdone on the downside,” said Peter Coolidge, managing director of equity trading at Brean Murray & Co. “The market is fairly strong today after an anemic day yesterday, but a nice pickup toward the close. I think that momentum has carried through to today.”

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) tumbled $3.81 to $39.31 on growth concerns after the company announced preliminary estimates for 2000 phone sales and global market expectations.

Qualcomm (QCOM) shares fell $4.63 to $73.25 and Motorola (MOT) slid $1.06 to $20.69.

Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) moved up $1.44 to $16.38 following a preannouncement that showed disappointing top-line growth. Some analysts downgraded the stock, while others saw reasons for optimism in the company's numbers.

Yahoo! (YHOO), which reports earnings Wednesday, added $2.94 to $30.13. America Online (AOL) charged up $2.82 to $42.85 while eBay (EBAY) and CMGI (CMGI) closed up $2.75 and 25 cents a share, respectively.

Citing a favorable valuation, break-up plans, and a strong wireless business, Morgan Stanley upgraded AT&T (NYSE:T) from "neutral" to "strong buy" and set a price target of $35. Its shares finished up $2.44 to $22.50.

Cisco Systems (CSCO) inched up 58 cents to $37.13. Lucent Technologies (LU) rose $1.44 to $16.81 and Nortel Networks (NT) shaved off $1 to $31.63.

Among widely held PC stocks, Dell (DELL) picked up 69 cents to $19.81; Compaq (CPQ) added 56 cents to $17; Gateway (GTW) trimmed 1 cent to $18.90 and Apple Computer (AAPL) moved up 63 cents to close at $17.19.

Microsoft (MSFT) rose $2.88 to $51.81. Oracle (ORCL) picked up $1.56 to $31.50 and Sun Microsystems (SUNW) ended up $1.25 to $29.44.

Indian software company Infosys Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: INFY) topped analyst estimates by a penny for its third quarter, with revenue rising 120 percent over last year. Its shares finished up $4.13 to $97.

Ditech Communications (Nasdaq: DITC) shed $3.59 to $7.03 after it warned that its third-quarter results would miss estimates due to shipping delays and a slowdown in infrastructure spending.

Intel (INTC) moved up 31 cents to $32.25. IBM (IBM) lost $1 to $92.56 and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) closed up 56 cents to $16.75.