Merger news did little to help the tech sector on Wednesday.
IBM’sacquisition of Internet Securityand the latest expression of interest in Gatewaydid little to rescue the sector from a broad market sell-off on weaker than expected home sales.
Gateway shares jumped 13% on a $450 million offer for its retail business from eMachines founder John Hui. The move follows a recent 10% stake in Gateway by hedge funds.
National Semiwas a surprising gainer, rising 3.5% despite warning that it will miss sales estimates on weak wireless handset shipments. TIlost 3% on a downgrade.
Rambusjumped 18% after a court delayed the final stage of its Hynix trial.
Applied Signalfell 6% on its results.
In late trading, Creative Technologyshares soared on a $100 million settlement with Apple.
The Nasdaq fell 15 to 2134, the S&P 500 lost 5 to 1293, and the Dow fell 42 to 11,297. Volume declined to 1.96 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.51 billion on the Nasdaq. Decliners led 22-10 on the NYSE, and 20-10 on the Nasdaq. Downside volume was 69% on the NYSE, and 61% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 99-38 on the NYSE, and 55-80 on the Nasdaq.