Yahoo! Inc.’s $5.7 billion purchase of Broadcast.com helped Internet stocks close up higher Thursday in advance of the Good Friday holiday.
Internet.com’s Internet Stock Index closed up 14.23, or 2.60 percent, to 561.17 while the Nasdaq Composite ended up 32.32 to 2,493.72 and the Dow Jones industrial average gained 46.35 to close at 9,832.51.
Yahoo! (YHOO) jumped 11-3/8 to 179-3/4 after announcing its purchase of Broadcast.com, which transmits streaming video and audio over the Internet. Broadcast.com (BCST) jumped 11-13/16 to 130.
The deal also helped shares of Broadcast.com competitor InterVu Inc. (ITVU) which soared 15-1/8 to 59-1/2.
Also, the stock of streaming media software maker RealNetworks Inc. (RNWK) leaped 35-11/16 to 157-7/8 on speculation that company may be Yahoo!’s next target. Yahoo! chief Tim Koogle refused to comment on that speculation in various interviews Thursday.
Turning away from streaming media, Internet advertising firm DoubleClick Inc. (DCLK) gained 11-1/16 to 193-1/8. The company said its DART system for serving ads on Web sites delivered 8 billion ads in March.
Shares of domain registrar Network Solutions (NSOL) slipped 3-5/16 to 102-7/16. The company on Thursday announced a partnership with Centraal to offer a 60-day trial of its RealNames navigation service.
Several companies posted healthy gains Thursday without releasing any news. Software retailer Beyond.com Corp. (BYND) jumped 7-5/8 to 33-13/16, ISP Concentric Network (CNCX) climbed 5-3/4 to 80-1/2 and GeoCities Inc. (GCTY) gained 7-9/16 to 117-1/8. Yahoo! is currently finalizing its purchase of the Web community.
Finally, ZdNet (ZDZ) jumped another 12-1/4 to 48-1/4 on its second day of trading. Technology publisher ZDNet took tracking shares of its Internet component public on Wednesday.