TECH STOCKS: A Lot Of Status QuoTECH STOCKS: A Lot Of Status Quo

Thursday was the kind of day on Wall Street that makes one wonder about the current definition of economic recovery. Despite a spate of decent earnings reports from technology bellwethers Wednesday, 24 hours later, a volatile day of trading yielded little movement in the major indexes. Even positive economic reports indicating a more stable employment market and inflation that remains at 40-year lows couldn't push share prices higher at the close.

It must have proven especially disappointing to those holding shares in the three tech vendors that reported banner results Wednesday: Intel, fresh off a record quarter, was down 33 cents, or 1%, to $33.06; Yahoo, which also posted record revenue, was down 30 cents, or 0.6%, to $48.09; and Apple Computer, which had its best quarter in four years, was down a sharp $1.35, or 5.6%, to $22.85. The Nasdaq-100 trading stock bucked that trend, albeit slightly, rising 8 cents, or 0.2%, to close at $38.16, buoyed by a few notable winners, including Oracle, which rose 30 cents, or 2.1%, to $14.89; and Applied Materials, which rose 62 cents, or 2.7%, to $24.01.

Despite most big tech issues being in the red, the information 100 managed to track ahead of all the major indexes, rising 1.39 points, or 0.4%, to 342.54. Conversely, the Nasdaq was the only index to close in the red, falling 2.05 points, or 0.1%, to 2,109.08. The Dow rose 15.48 points, or 0.2%, to 10,553.85, and the S&P 500 rose 0.81 points, or 0.07%, to 1,131.33.