By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- On a day in which losses weighed
on the tech sector in late trading, it was a gain from Facebook
Inc. that stood out Monday, as the social-networker's stock posted
its highest closing price since going public a year ago.
Facebook (FB) continued its recent muscle-flexing, as the
company's shares rose almost 2%, to close at $41.34, topping
Friday's previous record close for the stock. The social network's
shares have climbed 56% since it reported its most-recent quarterly
results on July 24. Facebook went public last May at $38 per
share.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) shares shed almost 2% to close at $34.15.
The stock had jumped on Friday after Chief Executive Steve Ballmer
said he would retire within the next year.
With Ballmer planning to step aside, focus began to shift toward
what, if anything, Microsoft has planned to appease shareholders
that have stuck with a stock that has remained relatively stagnant
for more than a decade.
On Monday, VMware Inc. (VMW) said it had hired Microsoft Chief
Information Officer Tony Scott to be CIO and senior vice president
at the cloud-infrastructure and virtualization technology company.
Over the weekend, the AllThingsD technology blog reported that
activist fund ValueAct might continue to press for more
accommodations fromMicrosoft, like an increased dividend or
buyback.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) ended the day down
by less than 1 point, at 3,657, while the Philadelphia
Semiconductor Index (SOX) rose and the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35
Index (MSH) also closed with small losses.
Strong gainers included Apple Inc. (AAPL), Groupon Inc. (GRPN),
and BlackBerry (RIMM) .
Shares of two 3D printing firms jumped as Citigroup kicked off
coverage of the pair with buy ratings. 3D Systems Corp. (DDD) rose
7% to $51.90, while Stratasys (SSYS) closed with a gain of 4% at
$110.04 a share.
In a note to clients, analyst Kenneth Wong said he believes the
3D printing market "is on the cusp of seeing much broader adoption
across more upstream production applications and the consumer end
market," which could triple the size of the market within 5
years.
Altera Corp. (ALTR) shares rose 1.4% after Citigroup upgraded
the chipmaker to a buy rating. Software maker Adobe (ADBE) rose
0.6% after Pacific Crest upgraded the stock to outperform.
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