By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks were in a hunt for
direction Tuesday, with Salesforce.com Inc. a notable decliner and
Microsoft Corp. scoring small gains as the overall sector tried to
turn back from the prior day's losses.
Salesforce (CRM) fell by 2.4%, to $54.29 a share a day after the
cloud-based software company reported upbeat quarterly results.
However, analysts raised concerns about the quality of Salesforce's
report due to weak profit-margin growth and the chance of slowing
revenue gains in coming quarters.
Groupon Inc. (GRPN) was also in the red, giving up 3.6% to fall
to $10.04.
But most of the tech sector edged upward, with Microsoft (MSFT)
among the sector bellwethers on the rise.
Microsoft shares rose 18 cents to $37.09 as the software giant
prepared for its last shareholder meeting under Chief Executive
Steve Ballmer, who is retiring.
Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (BRCD) rose 7.5% to $8.70
after the networking technology company reported upbeat quarterly
results late Monday.
Gains also came from Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), Facebook Inc.
(FB), Netflix Inc. (NFLX) Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Pandora Media Inc.
(P).
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose 11 points to 3,960 and
the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) also edged into positive
territory.
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