By Dan Gallagher, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks tried to cut their
losses in afternoon trading Friday, but weak sales data on PCs in
the fourth quarter continued to weigh on the tech sector as Dell
Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Apple Inc. all saw selling
pressure.
Dell (DELL) shares fell 1.8% to $10.85. Data released by IDC
late Thursday reported that global PC sales fell by 6.4% for the
fourth quarter -- worse than the drop the firm had predicted
earlier. Dell saw its global market share slip to 10.6% from 12.5%
in the same period the previous year.
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) managed to pick up some market share
during the period to end the year in the top position, globally.
However, the tech giant's shares still fell 2% to $15.95.
Apple's (AAPL) shares were also in the red, down by $2.50 at
$520.93.
Microsoft (MSFT) edged back from its early declines to rise
almost 1% to $26.67.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) gave up 2 points to slip to
3,119, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) and the
Morgan Stanley High-Tech Index (MSH) each eked out small gains.
Losses by PC makers were offset by gains in other categories.
Facebook (FB) was up by 20 cents at $31.51. The social network was
named as the "top pick" among large-cap Internet stocks for 2013 in
a note by J.P. Morgan.
"We believe it's still very early in Facebook's mobile
advertising trajectory, and marketer feedback on mobile and News
Feed ads is now more positive," J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth
wrote in his note to clients.
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) shares climbed more than 3%, to $101.23,
even as a federal appeals court ruled that the company received an
unfair advantage from the U.S. Postal Service with special service
for its millions of DVDs rental envelopes.
Splunk (SPLK) shares jumped 6.7% to $31.78 amid reports that the
Web-data analytics company could be a takeover target, possibly by
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM).
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