Techs Can’t Hang Onto Gains

Tech stocks got off to a solid start Tuesday on a Prudential upgrade of the chip equipment sector, but the Nasdaq gave back all its gains by the close.

Prudential analyst Ben Pang said the “current risk-versus-reward scenario is strongly in favor of a significant price appreciation from the current levels,” and he said he saw little risk of overcapacity.

Applied Materials , Mattson Technology and Brooks Automation gained on the Prudential call, but the chip sector ended the day with a 0.7% loss.

The broader market rose on better than expected housing starts and building permits, but finished off its best levels as traders worried that the strong data could mean more aggressive Federal Reserve rate hikes.

The Nasdaq lost 3 to 2107, the S&P 500 was unchanged at 1240, and the Dow gained 32 at 10,974. Volume rose to 2.32 billion shares on the NYSE, but declined to 1.63 billion on the Nasdaq. Decliners led 18-14 on the NYSE, and 17-13 on the Nasdaq. Downside volume was 57% on the NYSE, and 47% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 24-170 on the NYSE, and 38-163 on the Nasdaq.

Qiao Xing Universal Telephone gained 9% on its results.

Trident Micro lost 8% on a Piper Jaffray downgrade.

Vonage finally managed a bounce, rising 5%. The stock had lost half its value since last month’s IPO.