MARKET CLOSE: Tech stocks end slightly lower

Stocks were little changed in sideways trading Tuesday following last week's strong rally. The Dow Jones industrial average shaved off 44 points to end at 11,034.13 while the Nasdaq trimmed 6 points to finish at 2,837.25.

After Friday's triple-digit gains, investors came back from the three-day weekend fixated on the fast-moving technology sector.

"Just like the IPO market, the stock market is focused on one thing and one thing only - technology and Internet-related issues that are building out communications networks," said Scott Bleier, chief investment strategist at Prime Charter Ltd. "'Everything else is languishing."

The biggest news came from the media sector where Viacom Inc. (VIA), the name behind MTV and Paramount Pictures, Tuesday merged with CBS Corp. for $37 billion in stock -- a combination billed as the largest media transaction ever. Viacom shares closed up 2 ? to 47 15/16 while CBS rose 1 7/8 to close at 50 13/16.

V-One Corp. (VONE) rocketed up 2 31/32 to 5 7/32 after rolling out its Instant Extranet Server, a security feature aimed at small-to-medium sized businesses. V-One's product is a Linux-based virtual private network that helps companies secure e-mails, private Web sites and private file transfer protocol servers. The company installs Linux using software from Red Hat Inc. (Nasdaq: RHAT).

Speaking of Red Hat, its shares moved up 23 1/16 to 108 on word that Gateway Inc. (GTW) will become an authorized reseller of its software.

Hotjobs.com Inc. (HOTJ) picked up 5 3/16 to 35 3/16 after its underwriters started the stock with "buy" recommendations.

The rest of the Internet sector was less fortunate.

America Online Inc. (AOL) fell 3 9/16 to 93 1/4 while Excite@Home Corp. (ATHM) and Lycos Inc. (LCOS) shed 1 5/8 and 1 1/8 a share, respectively. Infoseek Corp. (SEEK) managed to gain 5/16 to 31 5/16 and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) rose 1/2 to 62 15/16.

Among widely held PC stocks, Dell Computer Corp. (DELL) trimmed 1/16 to 49 3/8; Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) lost 5/16 to 22 15/16; Gateway Inc. (GTW) keeps rolling along, closing up 2 1/8 to 100 5/8 and Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) finished up another 2 7/8 to a 52-week high of 76 3/8.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) shares tumbled 1 5/8 to 94 1/4. Oracle Corp. (ORCL) rose 2 5/16 to 43 13/16 and Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW) tacked on 1 13/16 to end at 86 5/16.

Digital Island Inc. (ISLD) closed up 6 1/8 to 25 after announcing plans to build an Internet-based audio and video transmission network that would improve international delivery of Web broadcasts.

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) lost 9/16 to 70 3/8 and 3Com Corp. (COMS) dropped 7/16 to 26 5/8. Lucent Technologies Inc. (LU) added 1 1/4 to close at 67 1/4.