NEW YORK (CNNfn) - A strong rebound among blue chip stocks helped pull the rest of Wall Street on higher ground at midday Thursday, helped by a bit of bargain hunting among the badly beaten technology stocks.
Shortly before 11:30 a.m. the Dow Jones industrial average was up 71.97 points at 9,267.44. Advances outpaced declines 1,465 to 1,155 as 262 million shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Nasdaq Composite, heavily weighted with technology issues, and suffering a 10 percent correction since its high at the start of the month, rose 10.16 points to 2,259.07. The S&P 500 index was 10.15 points higher at 1,234.18. (Click here for a look at today's CNNfn market movers)
Bonds turned lower, hurt by the stock market's show of strength. The benchmark 30-year Treasury bond fell 15/32 of a point in price, for a yield of 5.34 percent.
The dollar continued its ascent against the Japanese yen and inched up against the euro.
Attempted comeback
Technology issues, still stinging from a deep sell-off caused by the disappointing earnings of Dell Computer and Hewlett Packard, attempted a rebound, though investors still seemed jittery about the sector, even as they rushed in to pick bargains.
Shares of Dell (DELL), the main culprit behind Wednesday's tech meltdown, gained 1-5/16 to 82-7/8.
Dow component Hewlett Packard (HWP), also caught in the melee, failed to shake off the blues, trading 3/4 lower at 67-3/8.
But fellow Dow member IBM (IBM) gained 1-15/16 to 172-7/16. Early Thursday, Big Blue said it will start selling computers with the Linux operating system.
Elsewhere in the high-tech sector, shares of Gateway (GTW) climbed 1-13/16 to 69 but Compaq Computer (CPQ) eased 1/4 to 40-3/4. The two are Dell's largest competitors in the made-to-order personal computer business.
Industry giants Microsoft (MSFT) and Cisco Systems (CSCO) reflected investors' nervousness about the high-tech high-fliers, with shares of Microsoft falling 2-3/8 to 147-5/8 and Cisco rising 1-3/8 to 96-1/2. Intel (INTC) climbed 3-1/8 to 127-3/4.
Elsewhere in the market, Broadcast.com (BCST) climbed 10-15/16, or nearly 19 percent, to 69-1/8 on news Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette upgraded the stock to "buy" from "market perform" and set a $100 a share price target.
Finally, in the day's big deal news, shares of insurance firm Transamerica (TA) soared 15-5/8, or more than 27 percent, to 73-1/4 on news Dutch giant Aegon (AEG) is buying the company for $10.8 billion in cash, stock and debt. American depositary receipts of Aegon climbed 5-1/8 to 99-7/8. 
-- by staff writer Malina Poshtova Zang
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