Market Close: Rally time

Finally the black cloud of inflation that had been hovering above Wall Street for more than a month drifted away Wednesday as the Dow Jones industrial average stormed up 190 points to 10.784.95 while the Nasdaq shot up 103 points to close at 2,517.85.

The confidence appears to be back after the Consumer Price Index for May was unchanged after April's 0.7 percent gain.

While most traders still expect the Fed to raise short-term interest rates by 25 basis points later this month, Wednesday's economic data virtually guarantees that will be the full extent of the adjustment.

"Things are clearly looking better today," said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer at First Albany Corp. "The consensus is still that the Fed will move the federal funds up a quarter of one percent when it meets at the end of June."

Technology stocks of all stripes benefited the most from the good news.

Oracle Corp. (ORCL) was twice as fortune as it shares soared up 7 13/16 to 32 15/16 after posting excellent fourth-quarter earnings. Oracle's outlook also lifted other software stocks as i2 Technologies Inc. (ITWO) rallied up 7 1/2 to 40 9/16 and PeopleSoft Inc. (PSFT) tacked on 1 1/16 to 16 3/16.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) shot up 3 5/16 to 81 and Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW) gained 3 5/8 to 62 1/16.

Among widely held PC stocks, Dell Computer Corp. (DELL) added 1 3/16 to 35 13/16; Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) moved up 1 1/16 to 22 1/4; Gateway Inc. (GTW) tacked on 1 3/8 to 65 7/16 and Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) closed up 1 7/8 to 47 15/16.

Internet stocks made healthy gains for the second day in a row.

America Online Inc. (AOL) charged up 11 1/4 to 106. Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) picked up 16 3/8 to 141 5/8 and CMGi Inc. (CMGI) rallied up 16 1/8 to 93 1/8.

Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) hustled up 15 3/16 to 111 11/16 following an announcement it will team up with Sotheby's on a Web auction site. Infoseek Corp. (SEEK) gained 4 3/4 to 49 1/4 and Lycos Inc. (LCOS) finished up 6 3/16 to 82 7/16.

AT&T Corp. (T) moved up 1 1/2 to 54 7/16. GTE Corp. (GTE) scampered up 7/16 to 69 5/8 and MCI WorldCom Inc. (WCOM) closed up 2 7/16 to 92 7/16.

Intel Corp. (INTC) added 4 to 59 11/16. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) trimmed 1/16 to 18 1/4 and IBM Corp. (IBM) ended up 5 1/16 to 120 15/16.