By Dan Gallagher, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks ended up putting in a
mixed trading session Friday, as weak sales data about PCs in the
fourth quarter dominated throughout the session and weighed on the
tech sector with Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Apple Inc. all
feeling selling pressure.
Dell shares (DELL) fell 1.5% to close at $10.88. Data released
by IDC late Thursday showed global PC sales falling 6.4% in the
fourth quarter -- worse than the drop the firm had predicted. Dell
saw its global market share slip to 10.6% from 12.5% in the same
period the previous year.
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), which picked up market share during the
period to end the year in the top position, saw its shares give up
12 cents to end the day at $16.16.
Apple shares (AAPL) also closed in the red, down by $3.21 at
$520.30, though Microsoft (MSFT) edged back from early declines to
rise by 37 cents a share and close at $26.83.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) managed to rise by almost 4
points and close at 3,125, 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) shares rose 1.3%, to close at $31.72. 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. shares (NFLX) climbed 2.5%, to $100.44, 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 DVD rental envelopes.
Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM) surged almost 14%, to close at
$13.56, as investors began showing enthusiasm ahead of the
company's BlackBerry 10 smartphones later this month.
Splunk shares (SPLK) had a strong day, jumping by 8.4%, to close
at $32.37. Bloomberg reported that the Web-data analytics company
could be a takeover target, possibly by International Business
Machines Corp. (IBM).
Online travel site Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (OWW) continued to lose
more ground, falling 2.4%, to close at $2.91, a day after the
company's shares gave up almost 10%. Earlier in the week, Orbitz's
Chief Financial Officer, Mitch Marcus, left the company after less
than two months on the job.
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires