By Rex Crum SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Upbeat reactions to several earnings reports and a fresh swipe by Oracle's chief executive at Hewlett-Packard Co.'s new CEO made for an active Wednesday in the tech sector. The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) fell 6 points to 2,490. However, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) rose nearly 2%, led by gains from Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) on the heels of the communication chipmaker's third-quarter financial results. In an statement late Tuesday, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison took some swings at the new brass at H-P (HPQ) -- CEO Leo Apotheker and Chairman Ray Lane. A trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 1 in a software lawsuit between Oracle (ORCL) and SAP AG (SAP),where Apotheker had served as CEO until earlier this year. The trial centers around how much SAP should pay in damages for stealing Oracle's software a few years ago. Ellison said that "a majority of this theft occurred while Mr. Apotheker was CEO of SAP," and that Oracle intends to present evidence of Apotheker's involvement when the trial begins in federal court in Oakland, Calif. In his statement, Ellison added that he expects Lane, a former company president at Oracle, to keep Apotheker "far, far away from the courthouse until this trial is over." U.S.-listed shares of SAP traded off by $2.42, or 4.5%, to $51.67, following lackluster results and outlook issued by the German company. Oracle shares rose 12 cents to $28.75, while H-P gave up 24 cents to trade at $42.72. Other declines came from Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Apple Inc. (AAPL), IBM Corp. (IBM), Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) and Google Inc. (GOOG). A major decliner, Molex Inc. (MOLX) shares fell $1.61, or more than 7%, to $20.98. The selling came after the maker of electronic connector products gave a weaker-than-expected forecast for the second quarter ending in December. On the upside, Broadcom shares rallied $3.17, or 8.5%, to $40.36 as the company's third-quarter earnings rose almost four times from a year ago. Broadcom also gave a strong fourth-quarter forecast. Compellent Technologies Inc. (CML) shares surged by $4.17, or more than 20%, to $23.87 after the data-storage technology company posted third-quarter earnings that rose 47% from a year ago. Piper Jaffray also raised its rating on Compellent to overweight following the company's report. RF Micro Devices Inc. (RFMD) climbed 61 cents, or 10%, to $7 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter results late Tuesday. JDA Software Group Inc. (JDAS) shares rose $2.73, or more than 12%, to $24.88. Late Tuesday, the supply-chain management software company reported a third-quarter profit of $8.3 million, or 20 cents a share, on $158.4 million in sales, a reversal after having posted a loss in the same period a year ago. Router and wireless-networking equipment company Netgear Inc. (NTGR) saw its shares rise $2.64, or more than 9%, to $30.87 after reporting upbeat third-quarter earnings on Tuesday. Chip-equipment maker FormFactor Inc. (FORM) was up by 52 cents a share, or 6%, to $8.90 following third-quarter results in which in lost 55 cents a share on $47.3 million in sales. The results were slightly better than analysts' forecasts. Silicon Image Inc. (SIMGE) shares surged $1.42, or more than 31%, to $5.97 after the chipmaker reported late Tuesday a third-quarter profit of $9.5 million, or 12 cents a share, on $60.5 million in sales. During the year-ago period, Silicon Image lost $15.5 million, or 21 cents a share.
