By Dan Gallagher, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- A sell-off in the technology
sector continued on Thursday afternoon, with drops at Apple and
Hewlett-Packard Co. leading the group deeper in the red.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) was down 0.6% to 3,194 by the
early afternoon, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX)
shed 1% and the Morgan Stanley High-Tech Index (MSH) fell by
0.9%
Shares of H-P (HPQ) took a hit, falling by 1% to $16.73. The
drop came as results from arch-rival Dell Inc. (DELL) painted a
more challenging picture of the PC market, with analysts noting
that Dell's aggressive pricing during the recently ended quarter
may have hurt H-P's own efforts to maintain share.
H-P will report its own results on Thursday afternoon.
BlackBerry (RIMM) lost 3.5% to trade at $13.84. Analysts are
questioning early sales of the new Z10 smartphone in the U.K. and
Canadian markets.
Apple (AAPL) shares were down 1.7% to $452. The previous
afternoon, lawyers for hedge-fund Greenlight Capital sought a court
order blocking a vote on a proposal for Apple's annual shareholder
meeting next week. The proposal would require the company to seek
shareholder approval for issuing any preferred stock, similar to
the type that Greenlight's David Einhorn has been seeking from the
company.
Apple's annual shareholder meeting is set for next Wednesday,
Feb. 27, at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that Apple's Chinese
manufacturing partner Foxconn has frozen the hiring of assembly
line workers after a higher-than-expected return rate of current
employees following the Lunar New Year holiday.
Garmin (GRMN) shares slid more than 9% to $35.67 after the maker
of GPS devices reported a 22% drop in fourth-quarter earnings and
projected results for the full fiscal year that were below Wall
Street's expectations.
Demand Media Inc. (DMD) jumped more than 8% following plans to
split the company in two.
Leap Wireless (LEAP) shares fell nearly 6% to $5.77 after the
prepaid wireless carrier reported a sharp drop in subscriber
additions for the fourth quarter.
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires