TECH STOCKS: A Surprise Late BumpTECH STOCKS: A Surprise Late Bump

U.S. markets languished for most of Wednesday, but managed a late-afternoon rally. The action was led in part by good news about blue chips, including IBM. Merrill Lynch upgraded its view of the increasingly diversified company, and shares jumped 2.8%, or 2.26 points, to $83.97.

Other big names were solid, too. Motorola (MOT) rose 3.4%, or 29 cents, to $8.85; Oracle (ORCL) rose 1.9%, or 25 cents, to $13.27; Apple (AAPL) rose 1.6%, or 27 cents, to $17.45; Verizon (VZ) rose 1.1%, or 42 cents, to $39.97; and Microsoft (MSFT) rose .8%, or 20 cents, to $24.88.

For the day, the Nasdaq index rose 1.1%, or 18.35 points, to 1,646.02, and our information 100 rose .73%, or 1.84 points, to 254.35. The Nasdaq-100 Index tracking stock rose 1.1%, or 34 cents, to $30.52. The Dow rose 1.4%, or 128.33 points, to 9,183.22, and the S&P 500 rose 1.3%, or 12.64 points, to 997.48.