NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The technology sector rallied again on Thursday, leading the Nasdaq to another record close while the blue chips continued to languish.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index closed at 3,197.22, up 41.26, a 1.3 percent increase on the day, while the Dow Jones industrial average slid 2.44 to 10595.3, and the S&P 500 rose 7.99 to 1881.45.
"We've been thinking that the Nasdaq, as an index, would likely outperform a lot of the other indexes this year," said Stuart Freeman, chief equity strategist at A.G. Edwards. "It's a lot about secular growth. We're seeing growth in technology. And for the most part, it's been a tech year."
Top tickets included Microsoft (MSFT), which climbed 2-1/2 to 89-5/8. Shares of the Redmond, Wash-software giant were spurred higher by news the company signed a five-year agreement with Tandy (TAN) to host Microsoft kiosks within RadioShack stores. Microsoft also said it will take a $100 million equity stake in the just-launched RadioShack.com e-commerce venture.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) continued its winning ride from the past day, surging 4-1/4 to 83-3/4, still basking in the glow of a strong quarterly earnings report and assuaged concerns of Y2K-related problems.
PC-maker Dell (DELL) was also on the watch-list and gained 2, closing 4.8 percent higher at 43-7/16. After the closing bell, the company reported third quarter earnings of 18 cents a share excluding an acquisition charge, in line with analysts' expectations. Revenues were up 41 percent to $6.78 billion. In after-hours trade, shares of Dell traded at 44.
Internet companies didn't fare quite as well. Most stocks were posting losses with the remainder showing slight gains. Amazon (AMZN) rose 1, managing to keep its head above water.
Internet bellwether America Online was off 3-1/4, closing the day 2.2 percent lower at 142-3/4, and the vast majority stocks listed in the Internet segment of CNNfn.com's tech stock tracker posted losses on the day.
Meanwhile, Wednesday's IPO darling, online travel agency Expedia (EXPE), held onto investors' attention, charging up 2-9/16 to 56.
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