Technology stocks rebounded yesterday on bargain-hunting, giving the Nasdaq Composite Index its biggest gain in more than two months on Wall Street. But blue chips struggled through a volatile trading day, unable to recover from a slide triggered by anxiety about corporate profits and rising oil prices.

Yesterday's performance represented a partial recovery from the market's sharp drop in recent sessions, including Monday, when anxious investors sent the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq down more than 100 points apiece.

The tech-dominated Nasdaq climbed 139.12, or 3.7 per cent, to 3,865.64, its biggest increase since July 12th. But the Dow fell 19.23, or 0.2 per cent, to 10,789.29 after moving within an 80-point range of its opening all day.

The Standard and Poor's 500 index, which also has a large representation of high-tech stocks, rose 15.39, or 1.1 per cent, to 1,459.90.