TECH STOCKS: Blue Day For Blue Chips; Techs Fare Better

Investors opted to collect profits Tuesday from last week's big gains as they looked beyond positive earnings reports and sent blue-chip stocks moderately lower. But technology issues bucked the trend, as the InformationWeek 100 and the Nasdaq both closed higher, contributing to a mixed day on Wall Street.

The InformationWeek 100 rose 2.10 points, or 0.6%, to 352.77, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 7.52 points, or 0.4%, to 2,147.98. Meanwhile, the Dow industrials fell 71.85 points, or 0.7%, to 10,528.66, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 1.06 points, or 0.1%, to 1,138.77. The Nasdaq-100 tracking stock fell 3 cents to $38.54 as more than 80.7 million shares changed hands.

Network equipment makers and wireless companies had a good day. AT&T Wireless Services jumped 40 cents to $10.39 as Cingular Wireless made an official bid for the company. JDS Uniphase was the Nasdaq's most actively traded list on speculation that French communications equipment maker Alcatel is interested in acquiring the company. Shares of JDS, which makes fiber-optic components, rose 56 cents, or 11%, to close at $5.73, after hitting a 52-week high of $5.885. Both JDS and Alcatel declined to comment on the rumors.

The National Association for Business Economics said Tuesday that its survey of business conditions revealed, for the first time in three years, rising employment conditions.