CHICAGO (CNN/Money) - Technology stocks soared Wednesday as renewed optimism regarding the war with Iraq triggered a buying spree among investors.

The Nasdaq Composite Index surged 48.40, or 3.59 percent, to close at 1,396.70, according to preliminary results. Among blue chips, Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates) jumped $1.37, more than 5 percent, to $25.72, IBM (IBM: Research, Estimates) advanced $2.73 to $81.46, and Dell Computer (DELL: Research, Estimates) climbed 90 cents to $28.11.

Chip stocks were among the biggest gainers today. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index climbed 18.93, or 6.3 percent, to close at 318.10. The Sox, as it is called, is up nearly 10 percent for the year.

Among semiconductor equipment makers, considered a leading indicator for the chip sector, Applied Materials (AMAT: Research, Estimates) climbed 83 cents, or 6.5 percent, to $13.59, KLA-Tencor (KLAC: Research, Estimates) rose $2.15 to $38.34, and Novellus Systems (NVLS: Research, Estimates) added $1.55 to $28.77.

Among chip makers, Intel (INTC: Research, Estimates) gained $1.10 to $17.52, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD: Research, Estimates) surged 62 cents, nearly 10 percent, to $7, and Texas Instruments (TXN: Research, Estimates) finished $1.14 higher at $17.58.

"[Semiconductors] are an area that people saw as the premier growth area in the past," said Ray Rund, head of research at Shaker Investments. "Anytime there's good news, people assume this is going to resume its growth and they rush back in. There's no fundamental pattern that would explain why they're up so much today."

News that U.S.-led coalition troops were advancing quickly toward Baghdad sparked hopes that the war with Iraq could be moving into the home stretch. Several technology companies, including such big names as Dell, have cited the conflict with Iraq as one of the reasons for the continued sluggishness in corporate technology spending.

Investors are banking that an end to the war would allow companies to loosen their pursestrings and begin investing in technology again. In turn, that would renew capital spending among such companies as semiconductor equipment makers. Rund, however, is unconvinced that this will be the case.

"These aren't decisions you make on a day or two basis," Rund said. "Capacity utilization in the industry is low enough that there would have to be a sustained increase in demand to see people start placing new equipment orders."

Not all the news among tech shares was positive. Overture Services, which provides ads linked to Web search results, fell sharply after Soundview Technology downgraded the stock to "underperform" from "neutral." Soundview analyst Jordan Rohan said Microsoft, which contributed one-third of Overture's fourth-quarter revenue, was preparing to launch its own paid-search platform. However, Reuters reported that officials from Overture and Microsoft disputed that view.

Overture (OVER: Research, Estimates) shares tumbled $1.74, more than 11 percent, to $13.49, although it rebounded off its session low of $11.62.

Internet advertising firm DoubleClick (DCLK: Research, Estimates) fell 24 cents to $7.72 after CIBC World Markets cut its rating on the stock to "sector perform" from "sector outperform," noting that a fundamental recovery in the technology business is at least a couple of quarters away.