By Benjamin Pimentel
Tech stocks remained largely in the red Thursday, weighed down
by losses in shares of eBay Inc., which fell 6% after the Internet
giant reported a drop in third-quarter earnings.
EBay (EBAY) was off $1.49 a share, or 6%, at $23.53 a day after
the company also issued a weaker-than-expected outlook.
EMC Corp. (EMC) also fell, giving up 50 cents a share, or almost
3%, at $17 after the storage technology company also reported lower
third-quarter profit.
The declines helped set the broader trading tone as the Nasdaq
Composite Index (RIXF) retreated 8 points to 2,142.
The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) fell 0.9%, while the
Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) was off by 0.6%.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) shares gave up 88 cents to trade at $204.03
after Nokia Corp. (NOK) filed suit against the company, alleging
the iPhone violates 10 Nokia technology patents.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) shares fell 27 cents to $26.31 on the day
it launched Windows 7, the latest version of its flagship PC
operating system software.
Other companies in the red included Hewlett-Packard (HPQ),
Oracle Corp. (ORCL), Google Inc. (GOOG) and Advanced Micro Devices
(AMD).
Online retailer Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and communications chip
maker Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) also retreated ahead of their quarterly
results, due after the market close.
A few gainers emerged, including Lam Research Corp. (LRCX),
which rose 90 cents a share, or 2.5%, to $36.75 after the
semiconductor equipment maker reported a higher quarterly
profit.
Gains also came from Dell Inc. (DELL), IBM Corp. (IBM) and Cisco
Systems Inc. (CSCO)