Cisco’s (NASDAQ: CSCO) much-anticipated entry into the server market didn’t do much for tech stocks on Monday, as the sector spent most of the day on the defensive, dragging the rest of the market lower by the close and ending a four-day winning streak.
The specter of Cisco competing against partners like HP (NYSE: HPQ), Dell (NASDAQ: DELL), Sun (NASDAQ: JAVA) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) seemed to raise concerns among investors, as only IBM ended the day higher.
Even Cisco’s partners in the new venture, among them EMC (NYSE: EMC), VMware (NYSE: VMW), NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP), Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) and BMC (NYSE: BMC) ended the day lower, and Cisco itself ended the day down fractionally.
Oracle’s (NASDAQ: ORCL) earnings report, due out after the market closes on Wednesday, could also be worrying investors, as Oracle shares lost 4% today.
Analysts are looking for Oracle to report a 1.6% increase in quarterly sales to $5.46 billion and earnings of 32 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters.
Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) fell 4% after losing a patent decision to Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM), while Intel and AMD (NYSE: AMD) lost ground on a licensing spat.
The Nasdaq fell 27 to 1404, the S&P 500 lost 2 to 753, and the Dow slipped 7 to 7216. Volume rose to 8.98 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.18 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led by a 22-16 margin on the NYSE, while decliners led 15-12 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 57% on the NYSE, and 27% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 7-62 on the NYSE, and 9-43 on the Nasdaq.