Infoseek shares zoomed up Tuesday, providing one of the few positive moves in a day that saw much lower than normal volume across all major indexes. A wave of selling swept across Internet stocks late in the day that clipped the wings of the few strong gainers, although most managed to end in positive territory.
The day’s two initial public offerings, one backed by a famous name, also turned in solid performances.
internet.com’s Internet Stock Index lost 13.61, or 2.66 percent, to 498.18, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 143.74 to 10,765.64 and the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 49.71 to 2,474.50.
Infoseek Corp. (SEEK) shares jumped 5-5/8 to 48-5/8 after Disney confirmed it is in talks to buy the 57 percent of Infoseek that it doesn’t already own. The remaining 57 percent of Infoseek is currently valued at $1.53 billion. Disney is considering creating a new class of stock that would track its Internet operations.
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) tumbled 5-13/16 to 111-9/16 after trading as high as 121-3/8. Darek Brown, e-commerce analyst at Volpe Brown Whelan, said Tuesday Amazon was considering launching an online toy store. Amazon officials refused to comment on the report.
Amazon also Tuesday announced plans to offer free music downloads on its Web site.
Investors continued to drive down shares of @Home Corp. (ATHM) in the wake this week’s ruling that AT&T Corp., a major @Home shareholder, must open its cable network in Portland, Ore., to competitors. Shares lost 6-1/2 to 97-1/4 after hitting 104-3/4 earlier in the day.
Internet incubator CMGI Inc. (CMGI) slumped 2-15/16 to 104-5/16 after hitting 113-11/16. Dell Computer Corp. and Microsoft Corp. this week bought stakes in NaviSite, CMGI’s Web services provider.
Lycos Inc. (LCOS) ended down 1/8 to 92-1/8, erasing gains of more than 3 early on. The search engine Tuesday announced a distribution deal with Packard Bell NEC.
Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) shares jumped 3-3/4 to 102-1/4. On Tuesday, Broadcom released the second version of its Very-High-Speed Digital Subscriber Line chip. Broadcom said the chip will allow manufacturers to accommodate all DSL flavors in one device.
Priceline.com Inc. (PCLN) gained 2-3/4 to 104-1/4 following positive comments by CIBC Oppenheimer’s Henry Blodgett.
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) ended down 8-7/8 to close at 143 despite releasing no news.
Shares of high-speed chip maker Rambus Inc. (RMBS) soared 9-7/8 to 87-3/4 on optimism that proprietary technology in its chips will emerge to become an industry standard.
The day’s two IPOs turned in solid results. Medical Web site DrKoop.com Inc. (KOOP) jumped 7-7/16 to 16-7/16. The company sold 9.375 million shares at $9, raising $84.3 million.
Backweb Technologies Ltd. (BWEB) climbed 7-11/16 to 19-11/16. The company, which provides infrastructure that allows businesses to “push” information over the Internet sold 5.5 million shares at $12 each, raising $66 million.
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