Lethargic Session Produces Few Tech Movers

A relative dearth of corporate news and thin holiday week trading volume left technology stocks mostly unchanged on Wednesday.

Following a Tuesday rally that propped some stocks to new highs, investors seemed content to sit out the session or lock-in some year-end profits.

All major indices were flat: the NASDAQ dipped .19 to 2177; the Dow Jones Industrial average lost 23.35; and the Standard & Poor's 500 shed .09 to 1213.45.

The most intriguing deal of the day, a budding partnership allowing Time Warner Cable to offer wireless service through Sprint, failed to power either stock.

Shares of the cable provider's parent, Time Warner , shed 13 cents, or less than 1 percent, to $19.42, while Sprint gained a nickel, less than a percentage point, to finish at $24.88.

Meanwhile, Oracle's takeover of PeopleSoft continued to grind along, with three- quarters of PeopleSoft shareholders tendering their shares for the $10.3 billion deal. Both issues were essentially unchanged.

A handful of chip stocks got a slight bounce after Credit Suisse First Boston released its list of top semiconductor picks for the coming year.

Texas Instruments and Broadcom each added 43 cents to close at $24.33 and $32.38, respectively. CSFB is keeping a close eye on how chipmakers position themselves as consumer devices become more dependent on processors.

Good news did little to get traders to push the buy button, but in some cases bad news did the trick.

Proxim , a maker of Wi-Fi gear, said fourth-quarter losses will be wider and revenues lower than expected. The company pointed pricing cuts from rival Cisco as part of the problem.

The darkened forecast caused shareholders to unload, sending Promix plunging 83 cents, or 17 percent, to $4.10 on volume that was nearly six times its average.

After the closing bell, Symbol Technology said it inked a new $250 million credit facility, which will replace its proposed stock offering. The lending line will finance the company's purchase of Matrics.

Shares of the maker of software for mobile devices closed at $15.87, up 14 cents, or nearly one percent. Shares were trading up in after-hours trading as well.

Paul Shread returns next week