By Rex Crum
Technology stocks led the market lower Friday, with benchmark
indexes posting steep weekly declines, as investors fled the
recently high-flying sector amid unease over the prior session's
wild swings and a debt crisis in Europe.
Decliners included Dow Jones Industrials Average (DJI)
components Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), down 74 cents a share, or
almost 3%, to $24.74; Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), off by $1 a share, or
3.5%, at $27.96 and Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), which fell $1.77,
ore 3.7%, to $46.52.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) gave up $12.60 a share or more than 5%, to
fall to $233.79. Earlier in the day, Nokia Corp. (NOK) launched a
patent-infringement suit against Apple involving technology used in
the iPhone and iPad 3G device.
Google Inc. (GOOG) fell as low as $481.33, going below the
$500-a-share mark for the first time since October of last
year.
Leap Wireless International Inc. (LEAP) shares fell $2.77, or
16.5%, to $14 after the provider of low-cost, prepaid wireless
service reported an increase in its first-quarter loss on Thursday.
Leap said it lost $68 million, or 90 cents a share, compared with
losing $50.3 million, or 74 cents a share, in the year-ago
period.
RealNetworks Inc. (RNWK) shares fell 7 cents to $3.97 after the
media-technology company on Thursday reported a first-quarter
profit of $3.2 million, or 5 cents a share, to turn around from a
year-ago loss of $12.1 million, or 10 cents a share. Real's revenue
fell 9% to $128.6 million.
Other losses came from IBM Corp. (IBM), Dell Inc. (DELL), Intel
Corp. (INTC), JDS Uniphase Inc. (JDSUD) and Texas Instruments Inc.
(TXN).
The tech losses dragged the Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF), down
65 points, or almost 3%, to 2,254.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) gave up 2.5% and the
Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) was down 2.7%.
All three indexes are now lower for the week and the year. The
Morgan Stanley index has tumbled 8% this week and has lost 4.6%
this year. Technology was one of the best performing sectors last
year.
The overall market was hit once again following Thursday's wild
session, when at one point, the Dow fell nearly 1,000 points.
Reasons for the sell-off included ongoing fears about the economic
crisis in Greece and other European countries, and a technological
glitch that led to big slides for U.S. bellwether Procter &
Gamble Co. (PG) and others.
Among tech stocks, the few gainers included Activision Blizzard
Inc. (ATVI), up just a penny a share, at $10.50 after the
video-game publisher said Thursday that strong sales of its "Call
of Duty" and "World of Warcraft" titles helped double its
first-quarter earnings.