TECH STOCKS: An Upward Pull From Blue Chips

Our indexes posted modest gains Tuesday, thanks in large part to strength from blue-chip stocks.

For the day, our InformationWeek 100 rose 0.4%, or 1.1 points, to 300.42; and the Nasdaq index rose 0.3%, or 6.03 points, to 1,924.29. Less tech-heavy indexes fared a little better. The Dow rose 1.1%, or 106.74 points, to 10,129.56, its highest close since May 23, 2002. The S&P 500 rose 0.7%, or 7.09 points, to 1,075.13.

The big names of the tech world looked pretty good. Oracle rose 3.3%, or 42 cents, to $13.12; PeopleSoft rose 2.6%, or 54 cents, to $21.04; IBM rose 2%, or $1.87, to $93.98; Siebel rose 2%, or 27 cents, to $13.68; Microsoft rose 1.2%, or 32 cents, to $27.06; and Hewlett-Packard rose 0.5%, or 10 cents, to $22.11.

The Nasdaq 100 tracking stock, which we use to gauge the breadth of tech-sharing trading, rose 0.2%, or 8 cents, to $34.86, on moderate volume of 88.9 million shares.