By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks put in a mildly
upbeat market performance Tuesday on a day highlighted by reaction
to Texas Instruments Inc.'s deal to buy National Semiconductor
Corp. for $6.5 billion and a rebalancing of the Nasdaq-100 that
trimmed the influence of Apple on that index.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) closed with a gain of
more than 2%, but the Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) dipped into the
red late and then scuffled to close with a gain of 2 points at
2,791.
"There have been some crazy cross-currents impacting tech," said
Brian Marshall, an analyst with Gleacher & Co. "Secular names
[that] offer the best growth opportunities have all been taken out
back behind the woodshed. Then, on the other hand, we have safer,
more mature names with limited growth profiles such as IBM, Dell
and SAP actually outperforming this year."
National Semi shares (NSM) surged 71% to $24.06 in the wake of
an acquisition announcement late Monday. The deal, which has been
approved by the boards of both companies, values National Semi at
$25 a share.
TI shares (TXN) rose 58 cents to end the day at $34.69 .
The deal marks a major consolidation in analog chips, where TI
and National Semi both have large market shares.
Among other chip stocks, big gains came from Intersil Corp.
(ISIL), up $1.02 a share, or 8.4%, to close at $13.14; Semtech
Corp. (SMTC), which rose $1.82 a share, or 7.5%, to $26.19; and On
Semiconductor Corp. (ONNN), up 26 cents a share, or 2.7%, to close
at $9.93.
Apple Inc. shares (AAPL) shed $2.30 to close at $338.89. Nasdaq
OMX (NDAQ) said it was rebalancing the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and
would lower Apple's weighting to about 12% from more than 20%.
Nasdaq said the move was being undertaken to better reflect the
market capitalizations of the index's stocks and would take effect
May 2.
Cisco Systems Inc. shares (CSCO) were up 16 cents to a closing
level of $17.22. In a letter to Cisco employees posted on a company
blog, Cisco Chief Executive John Chambers that, while he believes
the networking giant's strategy is sound, the company's operational
execution has been lacking, while "we have disappointed our
investors and we have confused our employees."
Google Inc. (GOOG) fell $18.59 a share, or 3.2%, to $569.09.
Bloomberg News reported that Google could be subject to a U.S.
Federal Trade Commission antitrust investigation of the company's
share of the Web search market.
Among other tech stocks, gains came from Dell Inc. (DELL) as
well as Dow Jones Industrial Average component Microsoft Corp.
(MSFT), whose Nasdaq-100 weighting is set to rise in the
rebalancing act. .