By Benjamin Pimentel
An early tech rally fizzled and sank into the red Thursday,
weighed down by losses in shares of Electronic Arts and Advanced
Micro Devices.
After posting gains at the opening bell, the Nasdaq Composite
Index (RIXF) was down 0.7% at 2,117.
Electronic Arts (ERTS) and AMD (AMD) each fell by about 3%. On
Wednesday, Electronic Arts shares jumped on rumors of a possible
buyout by Microsoft, but the software giant later denied the
report. Microsoft was up about 1% Thursday morning.
The sector got a boost from shares of Red Hat Inc. (RHT) which
soared more than 10% after the software maker reported a jump in
quarterly profit and scored an upgrade from Bank of America-Merrill
Lynch. Bank of America raised its rating for the company to buy,
citing the firm's strengths during a slump in corporate spending in
information technology.
"Red Hat, as a low cost alternative, is taking wallet share of
tight IT spending," analyst Kash Rangan said in a note.
National Semiconductor (NSM) rose about 1%. On Thursday,
Citigroup upgraded the chip maker to buy, saying investors were
underestimating the company's strengths.
The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) was down about 0.7%,
while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) was behind
1.6%.
Also in the red were Google Inc. (GOOG), Apple Inc. (AAPL) and
Yahoo Inc. (YHOO).
