MARKET CLOSE: Earnings boost tech shares

Strong earnings from leading technology companies pushed the Nasdaq composite up 75 points to 4,174.85 Thursday. The Dow Jones industrial average inched up 5 points to finish at 10,788.71.

"I think what we are seeing is the desire to get back into many of these tech names and the earnings are giving people an excuse," said George Rodriguez, senior vice president at Guzman & Co.

Motorola (MOT) shares moved up 2 15/16 to 39 3/16 after it met analysts' estimates in its latest quarter.

Ariba (ARBA), which shattered estimates in its third quarter, shot up 27 11/16 to 131 3/16. Applied Micro Circuits (Nasdaq: AMCC) hustled up 28 1/16 to 153 1/2 after beating estimates in its latest quarter.

Intel (INTC) moved up 2 to 143 3/16. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) added 1 to 85 5/16 and IBM (IBM) closed off 1 1/2 to 103 1/8.

Yahoo! (YHOO) lost 2 3/8 to 122 9/16 while America Online (AOL) and eBay (EBAY) rose 1 1/2 and 13/16 a share, respectively. Lycos (LCOS) picked up 5/8 to 44 7/8 and Amazon.com (AMZN) trimmed 1/16 to 35.

RealNetworks' (Nasdaq: RNWK) rose 5 3/16 to 51 15/16 following news its software will be used throughout AOL's networks.

Open Market Inc. (Nasdaq: OMKT) plunged 3 9/32 to 8 21/32 after it warned second quarter results would miss estimates due to lower revenue in its services business.

Among widely held PC stocks, Dell (DELL) gained 7/8 to 52 15/16; Compaq (CPQ) moved up 3/8 to 27 1/8; Gateway (GTW) inched up 1/16 to 71 ahead of its earnings report and Apple Computer (AAPL) closed off 2 3/8 to 56 1/2.

Long-distance telephone powerhouses WorldCom Inc. (Nasdaq: WCOM), up 3 7/16 to 47 15/16, and Sprint Corp. (NYSE: FON), up 15/16 to 47 15/16, canceled their $120 billion merger plan Thursday following regulatory complaints.

Microsoft (MSFT) shed 3/8 to 79 15/16 while Oracle (ORCL) and Sun Microsystems (SUNW) closed up 1 1/16 and 9/16 a share, respectively.