Palm, RIM Lead Tech Stocks Higher

Palm (NASDAQ: PALM) and Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) led the tech sector back from a steep early decline on Friday.

Palm shares gained nearly 4 percent despite a lukewarm “neutral” rating from Wedbush Morgan, which followed several other analyst reports this week that questioned the strength of the company’s smartphone sales with Verizon (NYSE: VZ).

RIM shares jumped 3 percent after the company was named a “top pick” at RBC Capital Markets, while Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) edged higher on positive comments from Needham.

Motorola (NYSE: MOT) surged 7.5 percent on plans to split the company in two.

McAfee (NYSE: MFE) gained 5 percent on its earnings report, but Compellent (NYSE: CML) plunged 25 percent on its results.

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) gained 1 percent on a Barclays upgrade ahead of its earnings report next week. Dell (NASDAQ: DELL), HP (NYSE: HPQ), NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) and Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) will also report next week, followed by Brocade (NASDAQ: BRCD) a week later. For an HP earnings preview, see HP Expected to Deliver Solid Earnings.

The broader market started the day sharply lower on a weaker than expected European GDP reading and plans by China to tighten credit, but stocks came back most of the way by the close for their first winning week in more than a month. Small caps and tech stocks ended the day with modest gains, blue chips with modest losses.