Ericsson's strong fourth-quarter results boost telecom shares. Motorola rises on its own good news

A strong quarterly earnings report from Swedish telecom equipment maker LM Ericsson boosted the telecom sector Friday, helping to push technology shares to a stronger close. According to preliminary reports, the Nasdaq composite gained 44.45 to 2,064.01. The Amex technology index edged 14.20 higher to 731.96, while the Philadelphia semiconductor index rose 23.68 to 519.41. Ericsson, the world's biggest producer of mobile networks, made an adjusted pre-tax profit of 5.5 billion crowns ($754 million) in the fourth-quarter, more than double analysts' expectations of 2.66 billion crowns. The company reported a 2.1 billion-crown loss, adjusted for restructuring costs, a year earlier. Revenue rose to 36.2 billion crowns to exceed expectations of 34.6 billion crowns thanks to year-end spending by U.S. operators as well as rapid growth of carriers in China and India. Ratings upgrades from Goldman Sachs and Fulcrum also helped to propel Ericsson shares nearly 13 percent to $26.77 on the Nasdaq. On the New York Stock Exchange, Lucent Technologies shares bounced 3.6 percent to $4.38 while shares of Nortel Networks gained 3.4 percent to $7.88. Motorola Inc. is seeking to regain its market share in Europe, after unveiling the V80 phone with a rotating cover and two other low-cost phones in Krakow, Poland.