A warning from EMC and a sector downgrade from Merrill Lynch dragged tech stocks lower on Monday.
EMC fell 7% after warning that its second-quarter results would come in below Wall Street forecasts.
Merrill, meanwhile, lowered its rating on the tech sector to “underweight,” a move the firm first considered last month, on liquidity, earnings and valuation concerns.
After the close, Lucent became the latest big tech name to warn, and Lucent and Alcatel
said they see a workforce reduction of 9,000 as a result of their merger, expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Blue chips managed a small gain on the day, rebounding from Friday’s drubbing on a warning from 3M .
The Nasdaq fell 13 to 2116, the S&P 500 tacked on 2 to 1267, and the Dow added 12 to 11,103. Volume declined to 1.92 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.62 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 19-12 on the NYSE, while decliners led 16-13 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 55% on the NYSE, and 21% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 70-76 on the NYSE, and 47-118 on the Nasdaq.
Standard Micro jumped 20% on its results.
Kronos tumbled 15% on a warning.