NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
The Nasdaq closed higher on the day and the week Friday thanks to an afternoon tech rally during a quiet session on Wall Street.
Investors were cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy-setting meeting next week, the June 30th transfer of power in Iraq and the June payrolls report due out July 2.
The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 9.9 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,025.47, thanks to gains in heavily-weighted tech companies like Oracle and Sun Microsystems. The Amex Technology index lost 0.5 percent, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumped 1.7 percent.
Business software maker and Nasdaq volume leader Oracle (ORCL: Research, Estimates) rose 2.6 percent and computer networking company Sun Microsystems (SUNW: Research, Estimates) added 3 percent. Sun rival Cisco Systems (CSCO: Research, Estimates) fell 1.1 percent.
Analysts forecast demand for networking equipment to grow steadily as more people worldwide access the Internet. Japan's Hitachi Ltd. and NEC Corp. said Friday they will combine networking equipment resources to compete better with American companies like Cisco, which dominate the global market.
Hitachi (HIT: Research, Estimates) stock edged higher 0.5 percent on the NYSE, and NEC (NIPNY: Research, Estimates) lost 0.3 percent.
Shares of No. 1 software manufacturer Microsoft edged higher 0.6 percent. Microsoft on Friday asked a European court to suspend the EU Commission's decision to give the software giant 90 days to separate Windows Media Player from its Windows operating system, and 120 days to make it easier for rivals to hook up their servers to Windows.
The world's largest semiconductor company Intel Corp. recalled some of its latest chip sets less than a week after the launch, citing a manufacturing flaw that could cause computers to crash or fail to boot. Intel (INTC: Research, Estimates) stock fell 0.6 percent.
Lucent Technologies (LU: Research, Estimates) jumped 3.5 percent on the NYSE.
Hewlett-Packard Co. said Friday certain Compaq and HP notebook personal computers had potentially faulty memory modules, prompting the computer maker to offer a voluntary, free replacement program for customers who bought the flawed notebook PCs. Shares in HP, (HPQ: Research, Estimates) the No. 2 personal computer company, lost 1 percent.
Rival Dell Inc. (DELL: Research, Estimates) climbed 3.2 percent.
Paychex Inc. (PAYX: Research, Estimates) stock sank 7.6 on the company's announcement after the bell Thursday that fourth-quarter income fell to 16 cents a share from 19 cents a share a year earlier, missing Wall Street estimates.
Paychex also said it would boost its legal reserves, since it is a defendant in 22 lawsuits by software licensees, further pressuring shares in one of the largest U.S. payroll processors.
And Taser International (TASR: Research, Estimates) shares soared 18.8 percent amid speculation that the company may soon sell stun guns through a national retailer. Analysts say consumer sales now account for less than 10 percent of Taser's current revenue.
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