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'Nets lead a tech rally
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March 15, 1999: 5:19 p.m. ET
Go2Net lands Microsoft co-founder Allen; Nortel-led deal draws a shrug
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Buyouts and alliances garnered investor interest in the tech sector Monday, with Internet companies again leading the charge.
After a delayed open pending the announcement, Go2Net (GNET) rocketed up 26-3/8 to 113-3/8, or roughly 30 percent, after billionaire Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, said he had taken $300 million stake in the Internet portal and hopes to acquire a majority stake.
Squaring off against a buyout bid for one of the Internet investment house's major holdings, CMGI (CMGI) rallied 28-5/8 to 192-5/8.
CMGI said Monday it had received third-party offers for the web portal Lycos (LCOS), in which CMGI has about a one-fifth stake. The investment house said it is opposed to the pending offer from Barry Diller's USA Networks (USAI).
Lycos shares added 7-1/8 to 105-3/4.
Elsewhere among 'Net stocks, Internet publisher CNet (CNET) rose 10-3/4 to 97, Web broadcasting tools maker RealNetworks (RNWK) sprang up 26-1/8 to 121-1/4, and soaring again was Bottomline Technologies (EPAY) up 34-13/132 to 92-1/4.
Elsewhere, domain-name registrar Network Solutions (NSOL) climbed 43 to 265 after announcing its 4 millionth registration and hearing upbeat comments from an analyst.
Ulric Weil, an analyst at Friedman, Billings, and Ramsey, initiated coverage of Network Solutions with a "buy" rating and said that its "natural monopoly" position isn't threatened -- for now.
In the telecom equipment sector, one-time buyout target Ciena (CIEN) changed sides and offered $980 million for two privately held communications equipment makers. Ciena was down 2-1/16 to 24-3/4.
Qwest Communications (QWST) gained 4-15/16 to 74-9/16 after Morgan Stanley Dean Witter upgraded the company to "strong buy" from "outperform" and upped its price target on the stock to $85 from $69.
It was a stellar day for the Nasdaq Composite, which added 49.91, or 2.1 percent, to close at 2,431.44.
Investors shrug at Nortel deal
Elsewhere in telecommunications, the latest big-name alliance among bellwethers of tech garnered only a dollop of Wall Street interest.
Canada's Northern Telecom (NT) lined up for a four-way tie-up with Microsoft (MSFT) Intel (INTC) and Hewlett-Packard (HWP) to produce equipment that will let companies send voice, video and data traffic over their computer networks.
Nortel, the only telecommunications gear maker in the bunch, added 1-3/8 to 60-3/16.
But the agreement didn't give any particular boost to Nortel's stock, as its top rivals also rose: Cisco Systems (CSCO) gained 1-3/4 to 105 and Lucent Technologies (LU) rose 2-9/16 to 105-13/16.
Among Nortel's partners, H-P rose 2-9/16 to 71-9/16, and Microsoft rose 5-11/16 to 165-7/8 Chip giant Intel shed 3/8 to 117-7/8.
Among the top software sector performers were two Microsoft rivals: Sun Microsystems (SUNW), climbing 5-13/16 to 109-1/2; and Oracle (ORCL), bouncing back slightly from Friday's earnings warning-related tumble, rose 1-7/16 to 30.
January chip sales hit $11.1B
Support for the chip sector was lackluster following a report showing worldwide sales of semiconductors were $11.1 billion in January, up 1.2 percent from a year ago, but dipping roughly 2 percent from December.
Memory chip maker Micron Technology (MU) continued to display softness, shedding 1-3/8 to 49, and LSI Logic (LSI) fell 1-7/16 to 24-1/2.
But on the upside were integrated circuits makers: Linear Technology (LLTC), up 4-3/16 to 49-15/16; Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM) added 2-7/8 to 48-1/8.
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