By Benjamin Pimentel, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch)--Technology stocks took a dive
Thursday, as shares of Facebook Inc., Apple Inc. and Google fell
sharply in a broad market selloff.
Facebook (FB) tumbled 5%, while Google (GOOG) dropped more than
3% and Apple (AAPL) sank 1% as the tech sector slipped into
negative territory.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) dropped by 117 points, or
nearly 3%, to 4,066. The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH)
was off 2%, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) was
down 2.4%.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) fell more than 2%, while Cisco Systems
(CSCO) gave up 1.8%, joining the top decliners on the Dow Jones
Industrial Average (DJI), which was down 200 points.
BlackBerry (RIMM) shares declined by 1.6% after Chief Executive
John Chen sought to clarify the beleaguered company's plan for its
struggling handset business.
Chen told Fox Business Network, "I don't have any plans to
jettison the handset business. We love the handset business." The
statement followed a Reuters report in which Chen was quoted as
saying, "If I cannot make money on handsets, I will not be in the
handset business."
Also in the red were shares of eBay Inc. (EBAY), which were off
2.5%. EBay said Thursday that it has reached a settlement with
billionaire Carl Icahn, who has agreed to withdraw his proposal to
spin off PayPal.
On the upside, shares of Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) were up 2%, one
of the top gainers on the S&P 500 (SPX), which was down 0.4%.
Deutsche Bank initiated coverage of H-P with a buy rating, saying,
the company is "midway through a five-year turnaround, and thus far
has done a good job of stabilizing the business."
Shares of IBM Corp (IBM) were up 0.6%. The company announced
Thursday that it has acquired Silverpop, a cloud-based marketing
services company based in Atlanta, Ga.
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