By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- It only took one day, but April
was living up to its reputation as the cruelest month, at least for
tech stocks, and losses from the likes of Apple Inc. and Intel
Corp. led the sector downward despite gains by stocks such as eBay
Inc. and BlackBerry.
Apple (AAPL) shares fell 2% to $433.79, 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 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 fell more than 2% to $21.36. 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."
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) fell almost 28
points to 3,240 in late trading, while the Philadelphia
Semiconductor Index (SOX) slipped 2% and the Morgan Stanley
HIgh-Tech Index (MSH) fell 0.7% The broad market was also in
decline as a gauge of U.S. manufacturing dropped in March.
eBay Inc. (EBAY) scored one of the sector's few notable gains,
rising 3% to $55.83 a share, as many analysts came 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 more than 5% to $15.23 as
more industry analysts issued positive reports on the smartphone
maker following its quarterly results last Thursday.
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) was up by a penny a share at $20.91.
Late Thursday, Cisco said it would raise its quarterly dividend by
3 cents a share to 17 cents.
Video-game retailer GameStop Corp. (GME) climbed almost 7%, to
$29.88, 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 Inc. (QCOM).
Dell Inc. (DELL) was off 4 cents a share at $14.29. 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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