MIDDAY MARKETS: Techs restrained ahead earnings, economic news

Techs were in cruise-control at midday Monday, as there was little news to move them ahead of Tuesday's consumer price index report. The Nasdaq gained 16.85 to 2654.66, and the Dow Jones industrial average rose 20.58 to 10994.23.

Inter@ctive Week's @Net Index climbed 6.63 to 281.97.

Techs sustained Friday's post producer price index party, but were holding back for Tuesday's economic news, which could give more insight on what the Fed has in store for interest rates on and after August 24.

Federal Courts rejected America Online Inc. (NYSE: AOL)'s attempt to claim ownership of phrases such as "You Have Mail," "Buddy List" and other phrases. The Court ruled they are considered common phrases. AOL shares gained 13/16 to 97 11/16.

EMusic.com (Nasdaq: EMUS) shares buzzed up 21 percent Monday morning, up 2 7/8 to 18, after EMusic, an e-tailer of downloadable music, said it will offer its wares on AOL's ICQ, Spinner and Winamp services.

The deal was trumpeted just after Audible (Nasdaq: ADBL), up 30 percent, or 3 1/4 to 13 15/16, announced it will provide users of RealNetworks (Nasdaq: RNWK), up 2 3/4 to 78 and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) up 11/16 to 85 3/8, with its library of digital audio.

Hardware stocks were up on earnings optimism. Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HWP), scheduled to report after the bell, was up 5 1/4 to 111 1/4. Dell Computer Corp. (Nasdaq: DELL), which will report Tuesday, added 5/16 to 41 3/4. IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) hopped up 3 7/16 to 126 13/16, Gateway Inc. (NYSE: GTW) grew 3 1/4 to 85 and Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE: CPQ) rose 3/8 to 23 7/16. Apple Computer Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) dropped 1/16 to 60.

Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) added 13/16 to 85 1/2, Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) dropped 1/2 to 79 1/4, and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) picked up 1/8 to 19 1/16.

Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU) jumped 1 1/8 to 67, Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) climbed 3/4 to 64 5/16 while 3Com Corp. (Nasdaq: COMS) slid 1/8 to 24 1/8.

Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) picked up 1 7/8 to 134 11/16, and Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) rose 2 1/16 to 99 1/2. Other Net notables included: Lycos Inc. (Nasdaq: LCOS), up 1 13/16 to 39 3/4, Infoseek Corp. (Nasdaq: SEEK) up 1 5/16 to 32 5/16, Excite@Home (Nasdaq: ATHM), up 1 11/16 to 38 11/16 and Mindspring (Nasdaq: MSPG) in the green 2 7/16 to 31. CMGi Inc. (Nasdaq: CMGI) also gained 1 7/8 to 83 3/8.

Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL) fell 1/8 to 38 1/2, AT&T Corp. (NYSE: T) lost 1/4 to 49 and Sun Microsystems Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) rose 1/4 to 73 1/4.