By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks stayed mired in red
ink by midday Monday, with Apple Inc. and Intel Corp. leading the
sector downwards despite strong gains by stocks such as eBay and
BlackBerry.
Apple (AAPL) shares were down 1.6% to $435.54, after CEO Tim
Cook issued a signed public apology on the company's Chinese web
site for customer service issues over the company's products in
that country.
The move followed reports last week that Chinese regulators were
preparing to crack down on the company following complaints that
its customer service policies that were not on par with other
markets. As part of the move on Monday, Apple said it has
"improved" its repair policy for the iPhone 4 and 4S models in
China, and plans to increase the "supervision and training" of
authorized service providers.
Intel Corp. (INTC) shares were down almost 2% at $21.44. JMP
Securities analyst Alex Gauna cut his rating on Intel to market
perform, or the equivalent of neutral. In a research note, Gauna
said he lowered his view on the world's largest semiconductor
company on the "discovery of technology roadmap issues that add to
an already challenging outlook," and other matters.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) was down 0.7% to
3,246 by midday, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX)
gave up more than 1.3% and the Morgan Stanley HIgh-Tech Index (MSH)
fell 0.5% The broad market was also in decline as the latest data
on U.S. manufacturing levels retreated in March.
eBay Inc. scored one of the sector's few notable gains. EBay
(EBAY) were trading up 3.7% to $56.18 a share, with many analysts
coming away upbeat about the company's prospects following last
Thursday's analyst day. It was eBay's first such meeting in two
years. U.S. stock markets were closed on Friday.
Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Graham raised his rating on
eBay to buy from hold, and increased his price target on the stock
to $67 a share from $56. Graham based his views on the likelihood
eBay will be able to sustain its growth levels, as well as more
options for its PayPal electronics payment business.
"We believe payments growth could surprise [with gains] as
PayPal could gain significant share of future blended
offline-online payments," Graham said in a research note.
BlackBerry Inc. (RIMM) shares rose nearly 5% to $15.15 as more
industry analysts issued positive reports on the smartphone maker
following its quarterly results last Thursday.
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) was up 1.6% at $21.22 a share. Late
Thursday, Cisco said it would raise its quarterly dividend by 3
cents a share to 17 cents.
Video game retailer GameStop Corp. (GME) rose 5%, to $29.34,
also in the wake of its better-than-expected quarterly results last
Thursday.
Among large-cap techs, notable decliners by midday Monday
included Micron Technology Inc. (MU), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN). and
Qualcomm (QCOM)
Dell Inc. (DELL) was off 7 cents a share at $14.26. In a
Securities and Exchange Commission filing last Friday, Dell Chief
Executive Michael Dell said the company's prospects were bleak if
it didn't go through with a $24.4 billion bid to go private.
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