Renewed inflation worries and mixed quarterly numbers drove money out of blue-chips and into technology shares last week. The Nasdaq composite index climbed 1.1 per cent to touch a fresh high of 4,235.40 Friday, its third consecutive record. The tech-rich index also logged its busiest day in history with 1.91 billion shares changing hands.

"The Nasdaq composite soaring upward attracts attention,"said analyst John Fitzgibbon at Redherring.com. "It attracts hot money which flows into the new issues market. So, we can expect to see probably one of the most explosive openings the IPO market has witnessed in the beginning of any given year."Indeed, conditions are ripe for a robust IPO market, but at least some analysts caution that overheated tech stocks could cap any meteoric rises inthe new issues. "It looks like when the overall market does well, it brings attention to these companies, which mostly begin trading on the Nasdaq," said Kenan Pollack, an analyst at Hoover's Online.

"At the same time, there are concerns about whether these issues are overpriced or whether people are going to start bailing." On the heels of the Nasdaq's record-setting romp, almost 20 companies are set to debut on Wall Street this week and put an end to the IPO market's month-long hiatus after the holidays.

"There is always this period of digestion and a period of revving up the engines for new issues," said Dave McMillan, head of the syndicate desk at Lazard Freres & Co."A lot of people avoid the first week or two of January. I suspect we are going to start seeing the calendar build dramatically in the next month."

In a sign of pent-up investor demand, Extensity Inc. boosted its anticipated price range to $14 to $16 per share from $8 to $10. Extensity, which provides Internet-based software applicationsto improve employee productivity, plans to offer 4 million shares this week with underwriter Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown. The Emeryville, California-based firm has applied to list its shares on the Nasdaq under the symbol "EXTN". "There is a saying I've used many times - if you increase an IPO in size, double my order," Fitzgibbon said. "The stock is very hot and you have a fine team of underwriters there." Neoforma.com Inc., which provides business-to-business e-commerce services to the medical supply industry, also hiked its expected price range.