MIDDAY MARKETS: Techs slide while Dow gains

Deals in the broadband and wireless sectors failed to keep techs above water at midday Wednesday. The Nasdaq fell 132.86 to 4,701.03, while the Dow Jones industrial average climbed 17.45 to 10,953.56.

The Inter@ctive Week @Net Index dropped 25 to 644.84.

The Nasdaq slipped while dropping oil prices renewed buying in the Dow. Wireless and broadband news stole headlines, with AT&T Corp. (NYSE: T) falling 1 5/8 to 58 after announcing the IPO of its tracking stock would be the largest US public offering ever. Palm (Nasdaq: PALM) lost 5 1/8 to 49 11/16 after it said third-quarter earnings topped analysts' expectations, but growth was expected to slow.

Excite@Home (Nasdaq: ATHM), up 2 1/16 to 36 3/8, said it extended its distribution pacts with its key cable partners and gave AT&T voting control of the company.

PanAmSat (Nasdaq: SPOT) lost 10 1/2 to 51 3/4 after it said it will deliver broadband Web info via its new satellite-based network with the help of RealNetworks (Nasdaq: RNWK), down 3 31/64 to 64 3/4, US West (NYSE:USW), up 1 5/16 to 75 and Hughes Electronics.

Hauppauge Digital (Nasdaq: HAUP) plunged 44 percent, or 16 13/16 to 21 11/16 after it warned of a rough second quarter and fiscal 2000 due to the lack of US demand for Digital TV.

MetaCreations (Nasdaq: MCRE) rose 11 percent Wednesday after it issued nine separate announcements heralding product partnerships for its MetaStream subsidiary and its new 3-D visualization technology, but was only up _ to 31 5/8 by midday.

The day's IPO was also broadband-related; Telocity, a provider of broadband services, priced 11 million shares at $12 each, the top of its $10 to $12 range.

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) was up 1 59/64 to 106 15/64, while Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) dropped 2 3/4 to 75 1/8 after announcing it will buy the privately-held SightPath for $800 million in stock. Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) lost 1/8 to 135 9/16.

Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) fell 1 3/8 to 68 3/4, Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) lost 4 11/64 to 190 53/64 and America Online Inc. (NYSE: AOL) lost 2 ? to 69 5/16.