Midday Markets: Techs mixed

Techs were mixed at midday on Wednesday. The Nasdaq edged up less than a point to 2,381 and the @Net added 1 to 280. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 41 to 10,572.

The broader indexes were pushed higher by gains in drug and oil stocks. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4 to 1,289 and the Wilshire 5000 fell 203 to 11,812.

Adobe Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: ADBE) dropped 4 1/8 to 72 1/4 after Prudential Securities began coverage with a "hold" rating.

Initial stock offerings were met with disinterest by investors. DLJDirect (NYSE: DIR) rose 6 5/16 to 26 3/16 after pricing at $19 a share and Juno Online Services Inc. (Nasdaq: JWEB) slipped 5/8 to 12 3/8 after it priced at $13.

Tuesday's IPOs held their ground. Barnesandnoble.com Inc. (Nasdaq: BNBN) rose 2 3/16 to 25 1/8 and Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: BRCD) dipped 3/4 to 44 1/2.

Net stocks were mixed. America Online Inc. (NYSE: AOL) fell 2 1/2 to 112 1/2, Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) added 3 1/4 to 114 13/16 and Inktomi Corp. (Nasdaq: INKT) gained 9 to 95. Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) rose 3 15/16 to 130 3/4 and CMGi Inc. (Nasdaq: CMGI) lost 10 1/8 to 181 3/8.

PC makers pared losses. Dell Computer Corp. (Nasdaq: DELL) lost 7/8 to 33 11/16, International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) rose 8 15/16 to 230 1/8 and Gateway Inc. (NYSE: GTW) climbed 2 1/16 to 59 1/8.

7th Street.com Inc. (Nasdaq: SEVL) rose 31/32 to 6 7/16 after penning a deal with IBM.

Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) dipped 7/16 to 52 7/16 and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) added 11/16 to 19 1/8.

Among software makers, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) gained 5/8 to 76 7/8 and Computer Associates International Inc. (NYSE: CA) rose 1/4 to 45.