TECH STOCKS: Nasdaq Flirts With 2,000TECH STOCKS: Nasdaq Flirts With 2,000

U.S. markets rallied early Wednesday following tough losses the previous day. But come mid-afternoon, when the Nasdaq index moved above 2,000 (an important psychological metric last crossed in January 2002) traders panicked, and it wasn't the I've-got-to-buy kind of panic.

Tech stocks were mixed. Oracle rose 3.6%, or 45 cents, to $12.85; PeopleSoft rose 1.9%, or 41 cents, to $21.49; Cisco rose 1.1%, or 25 cents, to $23.36; IBM fell .3%, or 25 cents, to $90.50; Intel fell 1.5%, or 51 cents, to $33.34; Red Hat fell 3.7%, or 48 cents, to $12.62, and Amazon fell 4.7%, or $2.52, to $51.41.

The Nasdaq-100 tracking stock fell .9%, or 33 cents, to $35.37, on volume of 102.7 million shares.

At the bell, our information 100 index was down 1.1%, or 3.3 points, to 308.29; and the Nasdaq index was down 1%, or 19.82 points, to 1,960.25.

Less tech-heavy indexes fared a little better. The Dow finished just barely in the black, up .2%, or 19.78 points, to 9,873.42; and the S&P 500 fell .2%, or 1.89 points, to 1,064.73.