MARKET CLOSE: Dow makes modest gains; techs struggle

Technology stocks drifted lower Monday as the Nasdaq composite shaved off 26 points to close at 3,290.29. The Dow Jones industrial average moved up 47 points to finish at 10,238.80.

"The market is fairly trendless," said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer at First Albany Corp. "In the absence of anything positive from the Middle East that drives oil prices lower or something positive from earnings which lifts spirits, it will be tough to keep the rally going."

Intel (INTC) shares lost $4.69 to $35.69 ahead of its third-quarter earnings report Tuesday.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) shed $1.56 to $20.31 on concerns that pricing pressures are eating into profit margins on its Athlon line. IBM (IBM) added $1.94 to $111.

Apple Computer (AAPL) dropped 56 cents to $21.50. Compaq Computer (CPQ) inched up 21 cents to $25.41 while Gateway (GTW) and Dell (DELL) closed off $2.34 and $1.95 a share, respectively.

PurchasePro.com Inc. (Nasdaq: PPRO) gained $9.69 to $44.75 after the stock was named "single best idea" at Prudential Volpe Technology Group. Ariba (Nasdaq: ARBA) closed up $9.69 to $131.38 and FreeMarket (Nasdaq: FMKT) closed up $1.63 to $43.13.

Yahoo! (YHOO) fell $4.75 to $55.25. Lycos (LCOS) moved up $3.06 to $39.63 while America Online (AOL) and Amazon.com (AMZN) closed down 39 cents and $4.13 a share, respectively. eBay (EBAY) added $3.75 to $59.63.

Struggling online pharmacy PlanetRX (Nasdaq: PLRX) inched up 3 cents to 34 cents after it asked its shareholders to approve a one-for-eight stock split, in a move designed to bump up its share price and keep the firm from being delisted.

L90 Inc. (Nasdaq: LNTY), up $1.06 to $7.13, said it sees revenue, gross margin and EPS for the third quarter of 2000 coming in above analyst expectations due to the strong momentum of its ProfiTools product.

Exabyte Corp. (Nasdaq: EXBT) lost $2.19 to $9 after it said its third-quarter loss was $7.51 million, or 33 cents a share, a penny narrower than First Call's expected loss of 34 cents a share.

Microsoft (MSFT) shed $3.38 to $50.38. Oracle (ORCL) clipped $1.06 to $34.56 and Sun Microsystems (SUNW) closed up $3.56 to $114.56.

Seagate (NYSE: SEG) picked up $3.31 to $71.69 and Veritas (Nasdaq: VRTS) rose more than $8 a share Monday after announcing they have settled a shareholder lawsuit related to Seagate's plans to go private.