Markets rebounded Thursday after being buffeted by surging oil prices
earlier this week, but not all technology stocks were winners.
The Nasdaq added 16.74 to 2,174, the S&P was up 8.15 to 1,237 and the Dow
gained 91.48 to 10,685 as some encouraging economic data helped soften the
blow of spiraling energy prices. Trading volumes on the Nasdaq and New York
Stock exchange were 1.53 billion shares and 1.83 billion shares,
respectively.
Dell lost 15 cents to $39.58 during the day. The PC
maker announced second-quarter results after the bell and guided lower for
the third-quarter. Shares were trading lower in after hours trading and will
likely be under pressure at Friday’s opening.
Shares of Intel were traded heavily after analysts at
Goldman Sachs cut the chipmaker’s stock rating to “neutral” over concerns
about profit margins.
The opinion sent shares lower early in the session. However, by the closing
bell, the stock had nearly worked all the way back. It ended at $26.61, down
27 cents, or 1 percent.
Elsewhere, Yahoo made its much-anticipated China play
official this morning, buying a 40
percent stake in e-commerce specialist Alibaba for $1 billion cash.
Shares of the Sunnyvale, Calif., Internet giant rose 79 cents, or 2 percent,
to $34.98 on its push into the red-hot market, yet heavily contested,
market.
Rival search player Google , which recently signed three
resellers in China, shed $1.63, less than 1 percent, to $284.05.
Investors applauded Qualcomm’s $600 million acquisition
of Flarion, pushing its shares up $1.27, or 3 percent, to $40.48. The deal is
aimed at improving Qualcomm’s wireless data transfer technologies.
Paul Shread is not writing this week. He will return next week with
technical analysis.
