MARKET CLOSE: Techs slip in roller-coaster trading
Technology stocks went on a roller coaster ride Thursday as the Nasdaq composite dropped 24 points to finish at 2,244.98.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed basically unchanged, up 0.23 points to 10,526.81.
After losing ground in early trading, tech stocks battled back to positive territory in early afternoon trading before giving back those gains in the final hour.
"The trend is still down," said Guy Truicko, equity portfolio manager at Unity Management. Tech stocks "have been getting pummeled for a week, so the fact that they bounced doesn't mean a whole lot. It just means maybe some guys were covering shorts, or some investors are taking advantage of the lower prices."
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) fell $1.06 to $55.19. Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) added 38 cents to $23.38 and Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: SUNW) picked up $1.19 to $20.81.
Among widely held PC stocks, Dell Computer (Nasdaq: DELL) moved up $1.31 to $21.94; Gateway (NYSE: GTW) lost 67 cents to $17.58; Apple Computer (Nasdaq: AAPL) trimmed 6 cents to $18.81 and Compaq (NYSE: CPQ) edged up 44 cents to $21.44.
Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) lost $2.13 to $24. Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) closed unchanged at $11.94, while eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) and CMGI (Nasdaq: CMGI) finished off $1.13 and 9 cents a share, respectively. America Online Time Warner (NYSE: AOL) added 50 cents to $44.90.
Citing an "uncertain U.S. economic climate," data-storage giant EMC (NYSE: EMC) toned down its sales growth projections for 2001. EMC said it still expects to meet its $12 billion revenue target for 2001, but added that it would grow sales 25 percent to 35 percent for the year. The stock finished off $5.77 to $37.18.
Brocade Communications Systems (Nasdaq: BRCD) plunged $2.75 to $41.94 after analysts downgraded the stock following a tepid outlook. McData (Nasdaq: MCDT) tumbled $2.61 to $22.63, and Network Appliance (Nasdaq: NTAP) trimmed 50 cents to $33.81.
Siemens said on Thursday it had agreed to buy U.S.-based Efficient Networks (Nasdaq: EFNT), up $10.69 to $23.06, in a deal valued at $1.5 billion. The acquisition bolsters the German company's position in the broadband access arena.
Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) tacked on $1.31 to $26.44. Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU) added 93 cents to $12.53, and Nortel Networks (NYSE: NT) closed up 79 cents to $19.94.
Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) dropped 75 cents to $30. Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) chopped off $2 to $21, and IBM (NYSE: IBM) gained $1.39 to $108.90.
ZDII staff and Reuters contributed to this roundup.
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