By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks put in a downbeat
market session Monday, with Amazon.com Inc. and Dell Inc. among the
sector leaders that lost ground early and then closed in the
red.
Amazon (AMZN) shed almost 2%, or $5.91 a share, to close at
$306.10. The online-retailing giant said it would hire at least
5,000 new full-time workers at its network of distribution centers
across the U.S. Amazon has been increasing its expenses to add to
its distribution network in an effort to keep up with growing
demand. During the company's second quarter, it reported a 22%
increase in revenue, to $15.7 billion.
Dell (DELL) shares slipped 7 cents to end the day at $12.87. On
Monday, activist investor Carl Icahn sent a letter to Dell
shareholders, rebutting comments the PC maker's chief executive,
Michael Dell, made about voter turnout at the company's August
special meeting, as part of his attempt to take the PC giant
private.
Losses took the lead early, with social-media related stocks
showing some of the day's larger declines.
Angie's List Inc. (ANGI) shed almost 4%, to close at $23.52. The
online professional-services recommendation and referral company's
stock price has fallen more than 11% since reporting mixed
quarterly results on July 24.
Groupon Inc. (GRPN) ended the day down more than 4% and LinkedIn
Corp. (LNKD) gave up 2.3%, to close at $203.71 a share. However,
Yelp Inc. (YELP), which had been in the red most of the day,
scratched out a gain of 2 cents a share to close at $42.12.
RF Micro Devices Inc. (RFMD) shares fell more than 4% to $5.28.
Barclays analyst Blayne Curtis cut his rating on RF Micro to equal
weight from overweight due to some uncertainty in semiconductors in
the mobile-device market.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) gave up 14 points to close at
3,599, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) and the
Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) also closed with
losses.
A few big-name companies managed to rise, with Facebook Inc.
(FB) up more than 4%, to close at $35.43, as well as Apple Inc.
(AAPL) and Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) posting small gains.
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