MIDDAY MARKETS: Techs gain in pre-holiday rally

Investors launched techs into a low-volume rally at midday Friday, as investors grabbed up discounts just ahead of the holiday weekend. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 145.32 to 2,485.44 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 110.35 to 10,597.64.

The Inter@ctive Week @Net Index rose 26 to 286.46.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) shares rose 6.69 to 88.25 Friday after an analyst said it's "back-up the truck time" on IBM shares, which have suffered from rumors of a pending profit warning.

Other tech bellwethers were also on the rise. Cisco Systms (Nasdaq: CSCO) gained 2.88 to 41.75, Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) was up 1.25 to 34.38, Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) rose 2.13 to 31.63 and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) jumped 3.19 to 46.62.

Documentum (Nasdaq: DCTM) rose 8.13 to 48.25 Friday after reaffirming financial guidance for 2001 after Thursday's bell.

Harmonic Inc.'s (Nasdaq: HLIT) shares fell 0.09 to 6.72 more than 17 percent Friday after the company said its fourth-quarter loss may be three times as large as analysts' estimates due to slumping market conditions.

Reports from Media Metrix and Goldman Sachs Friday indicated that smaller e-tailers may be getting a lump of coal for poor performance this holiday season. Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) rose 0.81 to 16.

Despite topping earnings numbers for its third quarter, shares of Cognos Inc. (Nasdaq: COGN), down 8.06 to 19 dropped over 37 percent Friday on disappointing sales numbers and analyst downgrades.

AOL (NYSE: AOL) gained 1.48 to 39.14 and Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) rose 3.06 to 28.68.