NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Technology stocks struggled Friday, but managed to close only modestly lower by the end of the session.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index slid 7.15 points to 1,960.02, according to preliminary reports.

Philadelphia semiconductor index ended the day 6.05 lower at 479.25 as a number of chip-related issues ran out of steam at the end of the week.

Intel (INTC: Research, Estimates) finished 1.5 percent lower to $27.38, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD: Research, Estimates) ended 2.3 percent lower to $15.51, and Applied Materials (AMAT: Research, Estimates) slipped 1.4 percent to $21.43 on the Nasdaq.

Texas Instruments (TXN: Research, Estimates) finished only fractionally lower at $28.59 and Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM: Research, Estimates) retreated 3 percent to $9.98 on the New York Stock Exchange.

There were, however, some bright spots in tech-land.

Moody's Investors Service upped its debt rating for Lucent Technologies Inc. to positive from negative, saying that the company has slowed its cash consumption and that telecom spending is on the rebound.

Lucent's (LU: Research, Estimates) stock rose by a percent to $3.96 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Standard & Poor's announced late Thursday it is dropping FleetBoston Financial Corp. from the S&P 500 index and adding E*Trade Financial Corp., an online financial services firm, in its place. The changes will take effect after the close of trading March 31.

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Bank of America Corp. is acquiring FleetBoston for $47 billion in a deal scheduled to close on April 1.

E*Trade (ET: Research, Estimates) shares edged 3.2 percent higher to finish at $13.10 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Shares of Internet search engine Yahoo Inc. (YHOO: Research, Estimates) barely inched higher to $47.13 on the Nasdaq after the company agreed to buy Kelkoo SA, a European price-comparison Web site, for $575 million in cash.

The deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter, helps Yahoo beef itself up in overseas markets to compete with Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN unit in Web search technology.

Communications equipment maker ADC Telecommunications Inc. said it agreed to buy the Krone Group, a copper and fiber cable supplier, from GenTek Inc. for $350 million in cash and assumed liabilities.

ADC's (ADCT: Research, Estimates) shares soared 6.3 percent to $2.85 on the Nasdaq following the news.