It is a crowning milestone in investors' unprecedented love affair with technology stocks. The Nasdaq first tested the 5000 mark two days ago, but failed to close above it. Thursday, the Nasdaq used a late-day burst to finish up 149.60 points, or 3.05%, to 5046.86, a little more than two months after first crossing 4000.

The index reached the achievement on the strength of Nasdaq stalwarts such as Microsoft, which rose $4.4375 to an even $100, returning its market value above the $500 billion mark, and market newcomers like VeriSign which climbed $37.75 to $240.75. Volume on the Nasdaq reached 1.9 billion shares, a typical level for today's markets but almost double last year's average.

"It's out of control," said Patrick Davis, head of Nasdaq trading at PaineWebber. "The tape tells the story: Obvious leadership from all the big stocks, even more so than the Internets and the biotechs.

Five thousand was a big number, everyone was shooting for it. Once we broke through that, it gathered momentum."

In contrast to many previous sessions, the gains by Nasdaq's technology stocks didn't come at the expense of everything else. On a big day for round numbers, the Dow Jones Industrial Average regained the 10,000 level - climbing 154.20, or 1.6%, to 10010.73 -- but there was little attention paid to that achievement, since the Dow had first closed above the 10K mark nearly a year ago, and has struggled mightily compared with Nasdaq since.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, meanwhile, recaptured the 1400 level, adding 34.99, or 2.56%, to 1401.69. The Russell 2000 index of small-capitalisation companies, many of which are traded on Nasdaq, rose 11.39, or 1.9%, to a record 606.12. "Not only is it a very powerful close, but it is very broad," Jon Olesky, head of listed stock trading at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. said above the trading desk's din at the closing bell.

"For the last half hour, I've been tapping my quote monitor to make sure it's working. We have not had many afternoons where the Dow and the Nasdaq composite have been in a foot race into the bell."

The Nasdaq composite has defied almost all expectations by coming off last year's historic 86% gain with an even stronger start this year. It is up 24% so far this year -- that is already just under the full-year gain in 1999 for the Dow, of 25%.

-- The Wall Street Journal