Stocks fell for a third day Friday on fresh evidence that consumers are reining in spending, but Red Hat bucked the downtrend with better than expected quarterly results.

Red Hat shares gained 5.5% on earnings and sales that came in just ahead of Wall Street expectations.

Red Hat wasn't the only tech stock to escape the selling, as Apple, Yahoo, Research In Motion, Dell, Qualcomm, Nvidia and Broadcom were among the Nasdaq most active stocks sporting gains on the day. RIM benefited from an RBC Capital upgrade. Apple gained on a Bank of America report predicting a high-speed iPhone and strong sales, and Qualcomm rose on reports of a mobile TV deal with AT&T.

Tessera Technologies soared 33% on a favorable International Trade Commission ruling in its patent dispute with Motorola, Freescale and Qualcomm. It was the day's biggest gainer on all exchanges.

The broader market fell on a warning from J.C. Penny and mixed personal income and spending data that showed weak consumer spending but moderating inflation.

The Nasdaq lost 19 to 2261, the S&P fell 10 to 1315, and the Dow dropped 86 to 12,216. Volume declined to 3.65 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.8 billion on the Nasdaq. Decliners led by a 21-11 margin on the NYSE, and 19-9 on the Nasdaq. Downside volume was 75% on the NYSE, and 73% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 13-50 on the NYSE, and 26-115 on the Nasdaq.