By Rex Crum
Technology stocks rose in early trading Tuesday as the sector
advanced on a day highlighted by Emerson Electric Co.'s $1.2
billion acquisition of networking-equipment company Avocent
Corp.
Emerson (EMR) said the all-cash deal values Avocent (AVCT) at
$25 a share, a 22% premium over the stock's Monday closing price of
$20.52 a share. Avocent makes hardware and software that companies
used to manage data centers and counts Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) among its
customers.
Avocent shares rose $4.31 to $24.84, while Emerson's stock added
$1.29 a share to trade at $39.96.
Another of Avocent's customers, Brocade Communications Systems
(BRCD), saw its shares rise 23 cents to $9.33. Reports surfaced on
Monday saying the maker or network routers and switches has put
itself up for sale, and that Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) may be a
potential buyer.
H-P shares rose 58 cents to $46.65.
Among other leading tech stocks, gains came from Apple Inc.
(AAPL), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Dell Inc. (DELL), Cisco Systems
Inc. (CSCO), Intel Corp. (INTC) and IBM Corp. (IBM).
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose 33 points to
2,101, while the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) rose 1.5%
and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) climbed almost
2%.