Techs Hit Historic Highs

The Nasdaq reached a level Wednesday not seen since before the Sept. 2001 terrorist attacks, as tech stocks continued their new year’s winning streak with their seventh straight gain.

The Nasdaq closed the day at 2331 — three points higher than its May 2001 high of 2328, which marked the index’s peak before a nearly 1,000-point decline into the Sept. 2001 lows.

The Nasdaq has now gained 110% since its Oct. 2002 low of 1108.

The gains were driven by yet another new all-time high in Apple and a Prudential upgrade of HP .

The Nasdaq gained 11 to 2331, the S&P 500 rose 4 to 1294, and the Dow climbed 31 to 11,043. Volume rose to 2.38 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.42 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 18-14 on the NYSE, and 15-14 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 60% on the NYSE, and 66% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 298-39 on the NYSE, and 216-24 on the Nasdaq.

Rambus surged again, adding 12% on positive comments from WR Hambrecht. The stock has nearly doubled since the start of the year on a favorable court ruling.

Yahoo fell 2.5% on a Merrill Lynch valuation downgrade.

Infosys fell 9% after missing estimates.

Cray and Mercury Interactive jumped on their outlooks.

Audible and Compuware fell on warnings.