MARKET CLOSE: Techs bounce back

Technology stocks made a spirited recovery Wednesday as solid earnings reports from leading bellwethers sparked a lukewarm rally. The Nasdaq closed up 29 points to 2,761.66 while the Dow added 7 points to 11,002.78.

"We're seeing a little reflex rally but less-than-strong conviction," said Joseph Barthel, chief investment strategist at Fahnestock & Co.

New issues garnered a lot of action Wednesday as MP3.com Inc. (MPPP) shot up 33 to 61 after raisingits opening price to $28 a share. Hoovers Inc. (HOOV) rose 8 to 22 in its debut while Insight Communications Inc. (ICCI) gained 5 7/16 to 29 15/16 in its first trading day.

US Search Corp.com (SRCH) picked up 9/16 to 14 1/2 after analysts and Yahoo! welcomed the leading Internet public record provider.

Lycos Inc. (LCOS) closed up 5 1/8 to 100 15/16 and Infoseek Corp. (SEEK) tacked on 1 to 41 after reporting strong sales, in its latest quarter. Excite@Home (ATHM) moved up 1 15/16 to 47 after meeting estimates.

Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) charged up 9 7/8 to 152. America Online Inc. (AOL) added 2 11/16 to 115 7/8 ahead of its fourth-quarter earnings report and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) closed up 5 5/16 to 125 7/16 ahead of its earnings report.

Shares of RealNetworks (RNWK) gained 10 1/8 to 87 15/16 after the company broke even in its latest quarter.

LSI Logic Corp. (LSI) shed 9/16 to 49 11/16 after its second quarter earnings were 21 cents a share, beating First Calls' expectation of 18 cents a share. EMC Corp. (EMC) gained 3 1/8 to 63 3/16 after ithurdled estimates in its latest quarter..

Among widely held PC stocks, Dell Computer Corp. (DELL) inched up 1/8 to 41 1/4; Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) rose 3/8 to 26; Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) moved up 1 3/16 to 54 1/16 and Gateway Inc. (GTW) lost 1 7/16 to 65 15/16.

Intel Corp. (INTC) shot up 5/8 to 65 9/16. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) tacked on 1/4 to 17 and IBM Corp. (IBM) ended up 3/4 to 129.