Tech stocks started out strong Friday after CS First Boston analysts said they expect Microsoft to make its quarter when it reports earnings next month.
And an uptick in PC sales could lead to earnings upside in the year ahead, the analysts said, echoing comments by Deutsche Bank on the PC sector.
However, the CSFB analysts said they expect Microsoft to continue to lag because of increasing competition.
“We continue to expect Microsoft to underperform,” they wrote. “The company is likely to face significant erosion of monopoly pricing pressure over the next three years given desktop maturity and open source alternatives.”
Stocks fell Friday as traders continued to have mixed feelings about the Fed’s quarter-point rate cut on Wednesday. U.S. treasuries sold off for the third straight day.
The Nasdaq lost 8 to 1625, the S&P 500 fell 9 to 976, and the Dow dropped 89 to 8989. Volume declined to 1.23 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.55 billion on the Nasdaq. Decliners led 17-15 on the NYSE, and 17-14 on the Nasdaq. Downside volume was 69% on the NYSE, and 62% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 108-5 on the NYSE, and 148-7 on the Nasdaq.
ClickSoftware soared 20% on a deal with HP
.
FindWhat , up 1.8%, is getting aggressive against fraud.
Overland rose 2.8% on a storage acquisition.
IBM slipped 1.1% ahead of a server announcement on Monday.
Oracle , off 0.7%, could be asked for more information by the FTC next week on its PeopleSoft
buyout offer.
Synopsis slipped 1.7% on an acquisition.
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