RIM, National Semi Drag Tech Stocks Lower

Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) and National Semi (NYSE: NSM) were among the names weighing on the tech sector on Friday, as tech stocks were left out of a blue chip rally.

RIM shares shed 3 percent ahead of its quarterly earnings report, due out after the market close next Thursday, when Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) and Palm (NASDAQ: PALM) will also report.

Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) and Accenture (NYSE: ACN) are also among the names reporting quarterly results next week.

Analysts expect RIM to report a 36.3 percent sales increase to $3.79 billion and earnings of $1.04 a share, according to Thomson Reuters. The stock tends to be volatile around earnings reports, as expectations are typically higher than the published estimates, and the BlackBerry maker also experienced some profit-taking after a big run-up on news of its move into China.

National Semi and Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) were other names weighing on the tech sector today.

National Semi fell 3.6 percent after the company’s quarterly results raised concerns about market share and sales growth at the chip maker.

Broadcom lost 4 percent on no apparent news.

The Nasdaq lost a fraction to 2190, the S&P 500 added 4 to 1106, and the Dow gained 65 to 10,471. Volume declined to 3.79 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.76 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led by a 24-13 margin on the NYSE, and 15-11 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 67 percent on the NYSE, and 51 percent on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 290-42 on the NYSE, and 58-18 on the Nasdaq.