Techs fell prey to profit-taking at midday Wednesday, while blue-chips recovered from their sharp decline. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 57.87 to 4,789.97, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 62.67 to 9,858.70.
The Inter@ctive Week @Net Index fell 12 to 637.41.
On the economic front, investors were awaiting the Beige Book report, the Federal Reserve's regional survey. Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's speech before a group of bankers in Texas yielded no clues to monetary policy.
The day's IPOs gained in their debuts. iPrint.com (Nasadaq: IPRT) edged up 1 1/2 after itpriced shares at $10 each. FirstWorld Communications (Nasdaq: FWIS) rose 7 13/16 to 24 13/16 after it priced shares at $17.
Other gainers included Smith Micro Software, Inc. (Nasdaq: SMSI), which moved up 4 1/8 to 10 1/4 after announcing a wireless e-commerce product.
Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO), down 1/16 to 132, and French computer services firm Cap Gemini said they would form a new global Internet consulting, integration and services company. Lucent (NYSE: LU) was down 3/16 to 68 1/16.
Engage Technologies (Nasdaq: ENGA) lost 12 1/16 to 165 15/16 after it reported Tuesday it lost 52 cents a share. According to First Call's corrected estimate, the company beat predictions by 6 cents a share.
IBM (NYSE: IBM), down 3/16 to 102 13/16, announced a move into the business-to-business space Wednesday through an alliance with i2 Technologies (Nasdaq: ITWO), up 18 3/16 to 186 5/8, and Ariba (Nasdaq: ARBA), up 9 5/16 to 333 13/16.
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) fell 3/16 to 92 11/16. Intel (Nasdaq: INTC)lost 2 1/8 to 113 5/8.
Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) lost 1 1/2 to 62, Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) lost 2 3/16 to 169 3/16, and America Online Inc. (NYSE: AOL) dropped 1 3/4 to 54 3/4.
Discuss: MIDDAY MARKETS: Techs slide