By Benjamin Pimentel
The tech sector traded up slightly Thursday, powered by gains
from Yahoo Inc. and eBay Inc.
Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) was up 4.8% in early trading.
On Wednesday, Yahoo scored an upgrade from Bank of
America/Merrill Lynch which raised its rating to buy, writing, "We
believe that Yahoo is still a growth company which is now trading
like a long-term secular decliner."
Another Internet giant, eBay Inc. (YHOO) also gained more than
3%.
But those gains weren't enough to keep the sector solidly on
positive ground, as the Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) struggled to
hang on to a slight gain. The tech-heavy benchmark was up 0.1% at
2,062 at last check.
The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) and the Philadelphia
Semiconductor Index (SOX) were each up about 0.4%.
Texas Instruments (TXN) was up a fraction a day after the chip
giant raised its revenue and earnings outlook for the third
quarter.
Intel Corp. (INTC) and Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) were also in negative
territory, while Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) was ahead 1.3%.
Other major tech players posted gains, including Amazon.com
(AMZN), Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and Apple Inc. (AAPL).