There's Life In Those Indexes

Life returned to the major indexes Wednesday, as strength in tech sectors gave a kick in the rear to what's otherwise been a quiet week on the Street. SBC Communications helped spur the action when it said it would spend $4 billion to $5 billion over the next five years to deploy a high-speed fiber-optic network in neighborhoods. Shares of the telecom company rose 0.8%, or 18 cents, to $24.25.

Other tech issues looked as good or better. Cisco Systems rose 3.2%, or 75 cents, to $23.97; Apple Computer rose 2%, or 70 cents, to $33.70; Texas Instruments rose 2%, or 47 cents, to $24.32; Siebel Systems rose 1.4%, or 15 cents, to $11.05; Nokia rose 1%, or 16 cents, to $14.25; Dell rose 0.5%, or 18 cents, to $35.45; and Verizon rose 0.2%, or 8 cents, to $35.45. The Nasdaq-100 tracking stock rose 1.2%, or 44 cents, to $37.12, on volume of 93.7 million shares.

At the closing bell, our InformationWeek 100 was up 1.7%, or 5.33 points, to 319.18, and the Nasdaq index had risen 1.4%, or 26.83 points, to 2,020.98. The Dow rose 0.8%, or 84.50 points, to 10,479.57; and the S&P 500 rose 0.9%, or 9.65 points, to 1,144.06.

See the full listing of all the companies in the InformationWeek 100 and the top 5 percentage winners and losers for the last closing at informationweek.com/stocks.