MIDDAY MARKETS: Techs shrug interest rate worries

The Nasdaq pushed 5,000 at midday Monday, even as the markets were reminded of Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's hawkish stance on interest rates.

The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 55.79 to 4,970.58, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 65.77 to 10,301.43.

The Inter@ctive Week @Net Index gained 15 to 674.37.

Less than 10 weeks after it first closed above 4,000, the Nasdaq Composite Index was pushing the 5,000 mark. Interest-rate watchers were undeterred by remarks by Greenspan, who reiterated his message that the U.S. central bank had to raise interest rates to stop the economy from overheating in his morning speech in Boston.

Qwest Communications (NYSE: Q) lost 4 1/2 to 59 1/2 after it confirmed rumors it is in talks with a major telecom company about a possible takeover. Rumored suitor Deutsche Telekom on Monday declined comment. Qwest's pending merger partner, USWest (NYSE: USW), lost 5/16 to 59 1/2.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD), up 5 15/16 to 47 7/16 jumped out ahead on Monday of Intel Corp.(Nasdaq: INTC), down 1 3/8 to 117 7/8, in the race to ship the first ultra-fast computer chip that reaches a new milestone of 1 billion cycles per second.

Applied Digital (Nasdaq: ADSX), up 2 1/16 to 17 1/4, said its Intellesale.com unit recorded a seven-fold increase in Internet-related revenues.

China.com (Nasdaq: CHINA), up 5 1/8 to 152, said it would split its stock 2-for-1 and has appointed a new CEO for hongkong.com Corp., whose IPO is tentatively scheduled for this month.

Shares of Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) added 11/8 to 18 1/8 after the defense contractor said it signed a $6.4 billion contract with the United Arab Emirates to provide 80 fighter jets and associated equipment.

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT)lost 1/8 to 96.

Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) rose 2 9/16 to 65 1/16, Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) gained 16 3/4 to 174 3/4, and America Online Inc. (NYSE: AOL) lost 1 1/8 to 56 1/2.