By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The majority of the tech sector
lost ground early Monday and never recovered by the time the market
closed, but Apple Inc. managed to edge higher after announcing that
it sold more than 10 million units of its new iPhone and iPhone 6
Plus smartphones over the weekend.
It was the first weekend that the new iPhones were on sale in
the U.S. and around the world. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said
the sales figures "exceeded our expectations" and that the company
was working on resolving supply issues that led to some customers
getting notices they would have to wait as long as four weeks to
get their phones. Some analysts added that the strong iPhone sales
could signal record revenue for Apple during the final quarter of
the year.
Apple (AAPL) shares rose 10 cents to close at $101.06.
Data-storage technology company EMC Corp. (EMC) was also one of
the tech sector's few big-name stocks to rise, as its shares tacked
on 15 cents to close at $29.68. A report said EMC, which is facing
pressure from activist investor Elliott Management Corp., is
considering options that might include a merger with one of its
rivals.
Small gains also came from eBay Inc. (EBAY), GoPro Inc. (GPRO)
and Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) .
The big story is still Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA), whose
shares pulled back by more than 4% to $90.94 following the Chinese
Internet giant's U.S. IPO on Friday. Alibaba said Monday that the
bank's leading the IPO have the option to purchase another 48
million shares, which could lift the size of the e-commerce
company's stock offering from $21.8 billion to $25.03
billion--officially making it the largest IPO ever.
Other decliners included Yahoo Inc. (YHOO), Netflix Inc. (NFLX),
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Facebook Inc. (FB).
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) fell 52 points, 1%,
to close at 4,527. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) ended
the day with a loss of 1.3%.
(Read more about the day's market activity in Movers &
Shakers http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid.).
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