Midday Markets: Techs climb

Stocks stormed back at midday on Friday. The Nasdaq added 23 to and the @Net rose 4 to 291. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 65 to 10,532.

Stocks rebounded in noontime trading after a drubbing in the past several days. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 14 to 1,296 and the Russell 2000 rose 4 to 437. Net stocks saw all the action as day traders took the stage while Wall Street left to enjoy an early start to the weekend.

On the economic front: Personal Income, the total income of wages and salaries compiled from payroll information, was on target in April with a rise of 0.4 percent. Personal Income and Consumption rose 0.5 percent, above the 0.4 percent gain expected. Consumption is comprised of the retail sales of durable goods, such as refrigerators, nondurables, and services.

With income steady and spending intact, the economy doesn't show any signs of slowing. Earlier this week, data on consumer confidence indicated that people were comfortable and likely to keep on spending.

Bid.com International Inc. (Nasdaq: BIDS) climbed 1 5/16 to 9 7/16 after the company announced the hiring of some key personnel.

Computer Associates International Inc. (NYSE: CA) gained 3 1/16 to 47 1/16 after topping first quarter expectations. Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) rose 1 9/16 to 79 15/16 and Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL) added 1 1/16 to 24 5/8.

LightBridge Inc. (Nasdaq: LTBG) gained 1 5/8 to 11 3/8 after a positive mention in BusinessWeek.

Nextel Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: NXTL) gained 2 36 5/8 after Microsoft completed its $600 million investment in the company.

PictureTel Corp. (Nasdaq: PCTL) slid 3/8 to 8 3/4 after the Securities and Exchange Commission said it was investigating the company's 1997 restatement of results.

StarMedia Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: STRM) rose a third day out from its initial public offering, up 14 3/16 to 59 11/16. Barnesandnoble.com Inc. (Nasdaq: BNBN) slipped 13/16 to 23 3/16 and DLJDirect (NYSE: DIR) tracking shares gained 3 3/4 to 41 3/4.

PC makers barely budged. Dell Computer Corp. (Nasdaq: DELL) was stuck at 34 1/2. Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE: CPQ) dipped 1/8 to 23 3/4 and International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) dropped 1/8 to 115 7/8. Gateway Inc. (NYSE: GTW) rose 1/2 to 61.

Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) added 1/3 to 108 3/4 and Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LU) rose 15/16 to 56 5/16. Tellabs Inc. (Nasdaq: TLAB) gained 1 7/16 to 56 1/2 and Ciena Corp. (Nasdaq: CIEN) dipped 1/16 to 28 3/4.

Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) rose 1/4 to 53 3/8 and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) dipped 3/8 to 18 1/2.