By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks were fighting for
gains Friday, with many sector leaders in the red as the market
seemed to get little lift from economic data such as the latest
unemployment rate.
Among tech stocks, chipmaker Atmel Corp. (ATML) rose 68 cents a
share, or more than 5%, to $13.75. Wedbush Securities analyst Betsy
Van Hees initiated coverage of Atmel with an outperform rating and
price target of $18.50 a share. Van Hees said Atmel should see
growth from its microcontroller business due to demand for more
touch-screen computer products.
Online retailer Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) rose $2 a share to
$187.94. Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian raised his
rating on Amazon to buy from hold, and set a price target of $225 a
share on the stock. Sebastian said the recently concluded holiday
shopping season "sets Amazon on even stronger footing to
consolidate market share in 2011 and beyond."
Chip-equipment maker Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc. (KLIC)
rose 79 cents a share, or more than 10%, to $8.44 after Oppenheimer
raised its rating on the company to outperform from
underperform.
Gains also came from Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), Apple Inc.
(AAPL), Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM).
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) edged just above its breakeven
line, as did the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX)
(SOX)After taking some tentative steps in early action, the
sector seemed to find some footing after the latest unemployment
figures showed the U.S. jobless rate falling to 9.4% in December
from 9.8% in November. The economy added 103,000 jobs during the
month, helping the jobless rate fall to its lowest level since May
2009.