MARKET CLOSE: Tech stocks move higher

Technology stocks continued their resurgence Thursday as the Nasdaq composite moved up 96 points to 3,429.02. The Dow Jones industrial average closed off 19 points to 10,880.51.

Investors were encouraged by a Labor Department report that said non-farm productivity rose 3.8 percent last month, 0.7 percent more than Wall Street had expected. Unit labor costs rose 2.5 percent, 1.0 percent more than forecast.

"People are taking profits in the Dow and putting it into the Nasdaq stocks," said Edgar Peters, chief investment officer and director of asset allocation at PanAgora Asset Management Inc.

Intel (INTC) shares moved up $1.81 to $46.69. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) gained 6 cents to $23.75 and IBM (IBM) closed up $3.44 to $102.

PSINet (Nasdaq: PSIX) continued to struggle, falling $3.80 to $2.94 after it announced a new corporate structure and warned it may lower guidance for the fourth quarter. The company also posted a $1.4 billion loss for the third quarter.

Yahoo! (YHOO) shares moved up $3.08 to $67.44 while America Online (AOL) and Amazon.com (AMZN) closed up $2 and $2.38 a share, respectively. eBay (EBAY) charged up $3.41 to $57.44 and CMGI (CMGI) closed up $1.88 to $22.56.

SciQuest Com Inc. (Nasdaq: SQST) missed reduced analyst estimates for the third quarter by a penny Thursday and announced a restructuring plan to help the company get back on track. Its shares finished off 17 cents to $4.13.

ADC Telecommunications (Nasdaq: ADCT) said Thursday it will meet or exceed estimates for its fourth quarter. Its shares finished up $2.19 to $24.38.

NextCard (Nasdaq: NXCD) shot up $3.69 to $11.75 after announcing earnings guidance for 2002 that doubles previous expectations.

Qualcomm Inc.(Nasdaq: QCOM) picked up $1.31 to $62.81 after announcing it will postpone the spin-off of its Spinco semiconductor unit, citing unfavorable market conditions. The company also extended licensing of its CDMA technology.

Microsoft (MSFT) added 69 cents to $70.31. Oracle (ORCL) lost $1.81 to $29.56 and Sun Microsystems (SUNW) closed up $3.19 to $109.06.

Among widely held PC stocks, Dell (DELL) rose $1.38 to $31.81; Compaq (CPQ) tacked on $1.38 to $31.42; Gateway (GTW) slid 55 cents to $50.40 and Apple Computer (AAPL) ended up $1.81 to $22.31.