NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Technology stocks seized the day again on Friday, as a strong U.S. employment report caused little interest-rate concerns among investors, and a huge European merger ignited shares of telecommunications stocks.
A flurry of late-day selling pulled the Nasdaq down from its highs. The Nasdaq ended up 33.16, at 4,244.14, after peaking at 4,294.84 an hour before the close of trading.
For the week, the Nasdaq added 9.2 percent from last Friday's close of 3,887.07, and posted its largest-ever one-week point gain.
The week's advances came in spite of a Friday's January jobs report showing that U.S. companies generated new jobs at the fastest pace in more than two years, and also in spite of Wednesday's quarter-point rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
Market observers' reactions to the tech sector's recent performance were mixed.
In an interview on CNNfn's Street Sweep program Friday, Michael Mahoney, an analyst at Dresdner RCM Global Investors in San Francisco, said there are very few obstacles in the way of tech stocks' advance.
"The power behind this rally seems to be unstoppable, notwithstanding the concerns about a slowing economy because of the rate rise," Mahoney said. "We don't see any signs of that."
Phil Dow, stock market strategist at Dain Rauscher Wessels in Minneapolis, agreed. "My guess is that one would be that one would be well advised to be an investor rather than a trader here," Dow said.
 But Gail Dudack, market strategist at Warburg Dillon Read in New York, said she has some concerns about the sustainability of the growth in technology in a rising interest-rate environment. [165K WAV or 165K AIFF]
Telecoms rise on merger news
Telecommunications companies got a lift Friday on news that German telecom operator Mannesmann had accepted Vodafone AirTouch's $198 billion takeover bid.
Vodafone's (VOD: Research, Estimates) American depository receipts were off 3-15/16 at 57-13/16 Friday. Mannesmann does not have ADRs.
Meanwhile, other telecommunications outfits were buoyed by the news, sending the American Stock Exchange's telecommunications index up 31.28 to 1,584.25, a 2 percent rise on the day.
Shares of AT&T (T: Research, Estimates) advanced 3/8 to 50-11/16. Bell Atlantic (BEL: Research, Estimates) shares edged up 1/8 to 58-9/16. Bell South (BLS: Research, Estimates) edged up 15/16 to finish at 45.
GTE (GTE: Research, Estimates) edged down ¾ to 69-1/8, and Sprint (FON: Research, Estimates) slipped 3/8 to 60-1/2.
Global telecommunications service providers posted the sharpest gains Friday. Shares of Bell Canada (BCE: Research, Estimates) finished 8.6 percent higher, picking up 9-/38 to 119. Britain's Cable & Wireless (CWP: Research, Estimates) advanced 2-7/16 to close 4 percent higher, at 63-3/16. British Telecom (BTY: Research, Estimates) shares rose 6-13/16 to 168-15/16, a 4.2 percent rise on the day. And Mexico's Telemex (TMX: Research, Estimates) charged up 9-11/16, finishing 8.1 percent higher at 129-5/16.
Most dot.coms up on positive earnings; others sag
Internet stocks advanced as well Friday, capping off a week of solid gains.
Web business consultant Viant (VIAN: Research, Estimates) was among the day's biggest gainers, surging 5-5/8, or 5.6 percent, to 105-5/8, after blowing past analysts' earnings estimates.
Viant, formerly known as Silicon Valley Internet Partners, posted net income of $3.7 million, or 14 cents per diluted share, well ahead of the 3 cents per share analysts polled by earnings tracker First Call had expected.
Internet service provider Earthweb (EWBX: Research, Estimates) also got a lift from better than-expected-earnings results. Earthweb shares closed at 37, up 3, nearly a 9 percent advance, after the company posted a much narrower quarterly loss than Wall Street had expected.
After Thursday's closing bell, Earthweb reported a fourth-quarter operating loss of 58 cents per share, on revenue that rose 701 percent to $11.5 million. Analysts had expected the company to lose $1.03 per share during the quarter, according to a poll conducted by earnings tracker First Call.
The results were met with bullish comments from several analysts on Wall Street, including Merrill Lynch's Henry Blodget, who said he viewed the company's accelerating revenue growth "as a key catalyst to stock-price appreciation going forward."
Other ISPs heading higher Friday included: Juno (JWEB: Research, Estimates), up 1-11/16, or 6 percent, at 29-13/16; Mindspring (MSPG: Research, Estimates), which added 1 to 30-1/2, a 3.4 percent rise on the day; EarthLink (ELNK: Research, Estimates), up 1, or 2.1 percent, at 48-11/16; and Concentric (CNCX: Research, Estimates), which ended the session 3/4 higher at 45-1/2, a 1.7 percent rise on the day.
Business-to-business Web ventures turned in mixed results Friday. Shares of FreeMarkets (FMKT: Research, Estimates) added 6, or 2.7 percent, to close at 230. Ariba (ARBA: Research, Estimates) advanced 10-5/16 to 185-7/16, a 6 percent rise. Razorfish (RAZF: Research, Estimates) ticked up 3-1/4, ending 7.8 percent higher at 3-1/4.
But shares of VerticalNet (VERT: Research, Estimates) slipped 13-11/16, or 5.7 percent, to 226. Internet Capital Group (ICGE: Research, Estimates) fell 9-1/16, ending 7 percent lower at 120-15/16. And OpenMarket (OMKT: Research, Estimates) shares ended 5.3 percent lower, shedding 3-1/8 to close at 55-1/2.
Also among the losers on Friday, Amazon.com (AMZN: Research, Estimates) gave back some of the sharp gains posted after the company's fourth-quarter earnings report earlier in the week. Shares of Amazon ended Friday's session down 5-5/8, or 6.7 percent, at 78-9/16. Online software vendor Beyond.com (BYND: Research, Estimates) fell 1/8 to 5-15/16, a 2 percent decline on the day. Internet incubator CMGI (CMGI: Research, Estimates) slipped 5-15/16 to 118-9/16, a 4.8 percent loss. And Web advertising firm DoubleClick (DCLK: Research, Estimates) ended down 9-11/16, or 9 percent lower, at 97-1/16.
 The Dow Jones composite Internet index ended Friday's session 9.75 lower at 403.88, a 2.4 percent decline on the day, but more than 4 percent higher than last Friday's close of 388.13.
A mixed bag of chips
Chip stocks turned in mixed results on Friday, but the sector advanced sharply on the week.
Shares of microprocessor giant Intel (INTC: Research, Estimates) edged up to a record high of 108-1/4 Friday, before pulling back to end the session up 9/16 at 104-3/4. Meanwhile, Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD: Research, Estimates) declined 7/16 to end the session at 38-9/16, down 1.1 percent.
Shares of Analog Devices (ADI: Research, Estimates) surged more than 5 percent, adding 5-3/4 to 111-1/2. National Semiconductor (NSM: Research, Estimates) ticked up 4-13/16, or 8.1 percent, to 64. Conexant (CNXT: Research, Estimates) added 10-1/16 to 96-9/16, an 11.6 percent rise on the day. And Triquent (TQNT: Research, Estimates) posted a 7 percent gain, ending Friday's session up 13-11/32 at 205-11/32.
Chip makers heading lower Friday included: Texas Instruments (TXN: Research, Estimates), down 2, or 1.5 percent, at 132; Altera (ALTR: Research, Estimates), which slipped 2-9/16 to 72-1/2, a 3.4 percent decline; and Linear Technology (LLTC: Research, Estimates), which ended the session 9/16 lower at 101-7/16.
 The Philadelphia Stock Exchange's semiconductor index, or Soxx, lost 2.44 on Friday, ending the day at 868.02. The Soxx ended the week 15.9 percent higher than last Friday's close of 749.01.
Computer equipment makers also were mixed Friday.
Shares of computer networking equipment giant Cisco Systems (CSCO: Research, Estimates) added 3-5/16 to 121-1/8, a 2.8 percent rise on the day. Sun Microsystems (SUNW: Research, Estimates) ended unchanged at 83-3/4.
Hewlett-Packard (HWP: Research, Estimates) shares advanced 4-1/2, or 4 percent, to 118. Compaq (CPQ: Research, Estimates) slipped ¾ to 27-1/4, a 2.7 percent decline on the day. Gateway (GTW: Research, Estimates) declined 2-9/16, or 4 percent, to 60-11/16. Dell (DELL: Research, Estimates) ended the day unchanged at 38-1/2.
The Goldman Sachs computer hardware index finished up 2.82 at 524.32, up about half a percent on the day. 
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