Techs off in dull market session

After spending most of the day above water, technology stocks on Thursday took a bit of a nose-dive in afternoon trading as semiconductor and networking stocks floundered.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average managed to eke out an 18.15-point gain to 8050.16 but the NASDAQ slid back 1.71 points to 1613.42.

Credence Systems Inc. got the semiconductor sector off to a poor start when it posted fourth-quarter earnings of 32 cents per share, 2 cents below Street estimates. The market's reaction was swift and unflinching, sending the company's stock down $3.13 per share to $23.88.

Most chip stocks followed a similar pattern. Intel Corp. dropped $1.81 per share to $76.69. Texas Instruments Inc. fell $2.69 per share to $44 and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. shed 56 cents per share to $20.94.

Analog Devices Inc. fell 69 cents per share to $29.94 after it met Wall Street estimates in its fourth quarter. Apple Computer Inc. dipped 13 cents per share to $15.63 and IBM lost $1.13 per share to $109.25.

Throughout the technology sector the losers outpaced the winners, but the losses were pretty tame.

Among PC makers, Dell Computer Corp. and Compaq Computer Corp. were off but Gateway 2000 Inc. rallied for a slight gain.

In the networking segment, Ascend Communications Inc. was the story as it managed to stiff-arm the losses seen by competitors Cisco Systems Inc. and 3Com Corp., posting a gain of $3.25 to $26.88. Ascend is the center of takeover rumors that might include either Northern Telecom or Lucent Technologies Inc.

Sun Microsystems Inc. made another nice gain Thursday as analysts called it one of the best bets in the technology sector. Netscape Communications Corp. nudged up a bit while Microsoft Corp. was off more than $2 a share.