MARKET CLOSE: Dow, Nasdaq enjoy rare rally

Technology stocks finally put together a robust rally Thursday as the Nasdaq composite stormed up 247 points to 3,418.72. The Dow Jones industrial average added 168 points to close at 10,142.98.

Despite the sharp advances, some analysts are convinced the market has finally reached its bottom.

"The chance that the market has actually hit bottom is actually pretty small," said Edgar Peters, chief investment strategist at PanAgora Asset Management. "There's some positive news after some negative news, but whether the buying is sustainable is doubtful -- there isn't any reason to think things are any better now than they were a couple of days ago, they just haven't gotten any worse."

Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) jumped $10.13 to $61.88 after it easily topped estimates in its latest quarter.

Sun Microsystems (SUNW) gained $7.38 to $117.69 and Oracle (ORCL) gained $2.81 to $36.38.

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) gained $8.13 to $38.13 after a strong earnings report while Ericsson (ERCIY) and Texas Instruments (TXN) moved up 63 cents and $8.88 a share, respectively.

Among widely held PC stocks, Dell (DELL) added $2.56 to $28.81; Gateway (GTW) rose $4.65 to $54.70; Apple Computer (AAPL) lost $1.19 to $18.94 after its disappointing earnings report and Compaq (CPQ) closed up $2.50 to $27.70.

Yahoo! (YHOO) tacked on $6.81 to $59.56 while Amazon.com (AMZN) and eBay (EBAY) rose $2.63 and $3.81 a share, respectively. Lycos (LCOS) shot up $6.25 to $43.25 and America Online (AOL) lost $1.47 to $45.44 despite a strong first-quarter earnings report.

E*Trade Group Inc. (Nasdaq: EGRP) hustled up $3.06 to $14.50 after it topped analysts' estimates, earning $7.2 million, or 2 cents per share, for ongoing operations.

Intel (INTC) picked up $3.75 to $41.94. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) gained $3.69 to $21.81 and IBM (IBM) rose $1 to $96.44.