TECH STOCKS: Maybe A Little More Growth For The Nasdaq

Stock indexes eked out small gains Thursday, pulled along by technology stocks. Investors also seemed to be holding their collective breath for the November employment report due out Friday.

Qualcomm and Cisco Systems shares were among Thursday's big gainers, up 9.5% and 2%, respectively, after Qualcomm raised its sales and earnings forecasts for its first quarter and Merrill Lynch upgraded Cisco's stock. Intel stock rose 0.6% before it raised the low end of its sales forecast for the fourth quarter after the close of trading.

The Nasdaq-100 tracking stock closed at $35.60, up 35 cents, or 1%, on fairly heavy trading volume of more than 98 million shares.

Wednesday, the tech-heavy Nasdaq index briefly crossed 2,000-point territory it hasn't frequented since January 2002. Thursday the Nasdaq index rose 8.55 points, or 0.4%, to finish the day at 1,968.80.

"The Nasdaq is fully priced," says Bob Staples, a trading manager with Bay Isle Financial LLC. Staples nevertheless says the Nasdaq will likely break through 2,000 soon, as corporate earnings improve. William Schaff, Bay Isle chief investment officer, adds that tech stocks may have more upside in 2004 as large companies boost IT capital spending.

Our InformationWeek 100 index rose .01 point Thursday to close at 308.3. The InformationWeek 100 has hovered above 300 since October, a level last reached in March 2002. The Dow rose 57.4 points, or 0.6%, to close at 9,930.82, while the S&P 500 rose 4.99, or 0.5%, to finish the day at 1,069.72.