MARKET CLOSE: Techs end record week with nice gains

Blue-chip stocks retreated a bit Friday but the tech sector kept on rolling, pushing the Nasdaq composite up 22 points to a record close of 3,369.13. The Dow Jones industrial average closed off 32 points to 11,003.89.

"I think we're doing OK here. At worst, I think it's consolidation here, but overall there's still tremendous enthusiasm for stocks," said Charles Payne, the head analyst at Wall Street Strategies, an independent market research firm.

It was another banner day for Internet initial public offerings, led by CacheFlow Inc. (Nasdaq: CFLO) which shot up 102 3/8 to 126 3/8.

Mediaplex (Nasdaq: MPLX) closed up 17 to 29 after it priced at $12, the top of its raised price range of $10 to $12 a share. Online direct marketing company LifeMinders.com Inc. (Nasdaq: LFMN) rallied up 8 3/8 to 22 3/8.

China.com Corp.'s (Nasdaq: CHINA) shares blasted up 24 15/16 to 117 11/16 following the company's announcement of a 2-for-1 stock split.

Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) kept its hot streak intact, moving up 4 7/8 to 218 3/4. America Online Inc. (AOL) fell 1 1/4 to 158 3/16 while Excite@Home Corp. (ATHM) and Lycos Inc. (LCOS) rose 2 1/8 and 5/8 a share, respectively. eBay Inc. (EBAY) fell 6 5/16 to 145 15/16 and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) closed unchanged at 77 15/16.

Among widely held PC stocks, Dell Computer Corp. (DELL) rose 3/8 to 41 5/16; Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) gained 1 3/16 to 26 1/4; Gateway Inc. (GTW) added 1 to 78 3/4 and Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) closed up 2 13/16 to 92 7/16.

Emulex Corp. (Nasdaq: EMLX) closed up 4 11/16 to 164 13/16 after the maker of fibre channel technology and products, said its shareholders have authorized an increase in the number of shares of common stock from 20 million to 120 million and to split its outstanding shares on a 2-for-1.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) hustled up 1 1/16 to 86. Oracle Corp. (ORCL) gained 1 15/16 to 76 1/8 and Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW) closed up 3 13/16 to 129 9/16.

Intel Corp. (INTC) marched up 1 3/8 to 79 7/8 while Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) and International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) closed up 1 1/18 and 5 7/8 a share, respectively.

Newbridge Networks (NYSE: NN) lost 2 3/8 to 21 5/8 after it said it earned 8 cents a share in its fiscal second quarter, a penny leaner than the First Call expectation. Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) inched up 3/16 to 88 1/8. 3Com Corp. (COMS) closed unchanged at 43 5/16 and Lucent Technologies Inc. (LU) slid 2 3/16 to 78 7/16.