MARKET CLOSE: Bargain hunters jump on tech issues

Technology stocks rallied back from heavy losses in the past week Tuesday as the Nasdaq composite picked up 139 points to 3,865.60. Investors couldn't resist picking up some blue-chip technology stocks at substantial discounts.

"It's just bargain hunting on the Nasdaq," said Edgar Peters, chief investment strategist at PanAgora Asset Management Inc. "It's just a technical bounce and probably a dead-cat one at that. There isn't any real reason for believing that things are going to turn around."

The Dow Jones industrial average closed off 19 points to 10,789.29.

Sun Microsystems Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) picked up $2.44 to $117.69 after agreeing to shell out $2 billion to acquire Cobalt Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: COBT), up $16.06 to $57.19.

Microsoft (MSFT) rose $2 to $65 and Oracle (ORCL) gained $2.84 to $79.31.

Inktomi (Nasdaq: INKT), up $2.59 to $123, Portal Software (Nasdaq: PRSF), up $2.88 to $42.75, Redback Networks (Nasdaq: RBAK), up $15.94 to $155, and Sun Microsystems teamed up to create an integrated broadband service delivery framework.

Corel Corp. (Nasdaq: CORL) closed unchanged at $3.69 after announcing it had managed to secure financing, the company said Tuesday, signing a deal with an unnamed institutional investor.

Among widely held PC stocks, Dell (DELL) picked up $1.88 to $36.31; Compaq (CPQ) rose $1.31 to $30.94; Gateway (GTW) added 92 cents to $60.12 and Apple Computer (AAPL) closed off 72 cents to $59.94.

Barnesandnoble.com (Nasdaq: BNBN) got a boost from its deal with Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) as investors sent shares up $1.38 to $5.94.

Yahoo! (YHOO) gained $3 to $108.06 while America Online (AOL) and Lycos (LCOS) gained 31 cents and $1.50 a share, respectively. Amazon.com (AMZN) dropped $2.06 to $40.75 and eBay (EBAY) trimmed 38 cents to $65.69.

Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) moved up $4.81 to $64 after announcing it sees third quarter revenues accelerating as its semiconductor business remains strong. The company also said it is increasing its focus on Internet communications by diverting some analog design engineers into the telecommunications and networking departments.

Intel (INTC) shot up $4.45 to $60.27 while Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and IBM (IBM) closed up $3.50 and $1.88 a share, respectively.