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MARKET CLOSE: Nasdaq, Dow head in different directions

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Technology stocks continued their outstanding performance Thursday as the Nasdaq composite rallied up 122 points to a record close of 4,485.59. The Dow Jones industrial average closed off 56 points to 10,643.63.

"Technology will continue to lead into the next year,'' said George Rodriguez, senior vice president, Guzman & Co. "As oil prices rise, there is concern it could increase inflationary pressures and the Fed will raises rates. But nothing really has changed since there is an expectation that the Fed will raise rates anyway."

Dell Computer Corp. (DELL) moved up 3 15/64 to 38 51/64 ahead of its fourth-quarter earnings report. Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) shed 1/8 to 26 1/4 while Gateway Inc. (GTW) and Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) closed up 1 3/8 and 7/8 a share, respectively.

MCI WorldCom (Nasdaq: WCOM) rose 1 11/16 to 49 13/16 after it posted a fourth-quarter profit of 42 cents a share Thursday, topping First Call's expected profit of 41 cents a share. Sprint (NYSE: FON) closed up 1 5/8 to 64 1/2 and AT&T Corp. (T) inched up 1/4 to 49 1/16.

Network Solutions (Nasdaq: NSOL), which registers Internet domain names, closed up 36 5/16 to 292 5/16 after it topped Wall Street estimates Thursday with fourth quarter earnings of $9 million, or 25 cents a share, on sales of $75.9 million.

Internet incubator CMGI (Nasdaq: CMGI), which runs a network of more than 60 different firms including AltaVista, fell 2 3/4 to 117 3/4 when it said it will acquire auction site uBid (Nasdaq: UBID) in a deal valued at $407 million. uBid shares closed up 3 7/16 to 30 1/8.

Among other widely held Internet issues, Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) gained 2 11/16 to 365; America Online Inc. (AOL) added 3/4 to 58 1/2; Lycos Inc. (LCOS) rose 2 5/16 to 72 7/8; Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) fell 4 1/16 to 76 3/16; eBay Inc. (EBAY) lost 1 5/8 to 162 3/8 and Excite@Home Corp. (ATHM) inched up 3/16 to 35 7/16.

Cypress Communications (Nasdaq: CYCO) moved up 3 1/2 to 20 1/2 in its initial public offering. The company, which offers local and long distance voice, Web access, e-mail and other services to businesses in office buildings, priced its 10 million shares at $17 each.

E-business consulting company Organic (Nasdaq: OGNC) soared up 19 15/16 to 39 15/16 after it priced 5.5 million shares at $20 each, the top of their range of $18 to $20 a share for trading Thursday. The original estimated range had been $12 to $14 a share.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) picked up 2 to 106 while Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW) gained 2 3/8 and 3 1/16 a share, respectively.

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) marched up 7 1/8 to a 52-week high of 135 15/16 after it beat estimates in its latest quarter and set a 2-for-1 stock split. 3Com Corp. (COMS) hustled up 5 11/16 to 65 3/16 and Lucent Technologies Inc. (LU) trimmed 1/16 to finish at 53.