By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks largely put in a
strong trading performance Thursday, with Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo
Inc. among the advancers as investors were optimistic following the
latest data on consumer spending and initial jobless claims.
Microsoft (MSFT) shares rose 27 cents to $34.62, a day after
Chief Executive Steve Ballmer kicked off the company's Build
developers conference in San Francisco. Ballmer used his keynote
presentation to describe Microsoft's new "rapid release" approach
to updating its Windows operating system and working with
developers, while analysts on gave a qualified nod to the company's
efforts.
Yahoo (YHOO) gave back some of its gains, but still rose 18
cents to $25.47. Gains also came from Facebook Inc. (FB), Oracle
Corp. (ORCL), Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and IBM Corp. (IBM).
Seagate Technology (STX) shares rose 4.7% to $44.69 after
Longbow Research analyst Joseph Wittine raised his rating on the
hard disk-drive maker to buy from neutral. Seagate's top rival,
Western Digital Corp. (WDC), rose 3.2%.
Technology-products supplier CDW Corp. (CDW) climbed 8% to
$18.37 as the company held its IPO. CDW sold 23.3 million shares at
$17 each after lowering its target price to $17 to $18 a share.
The tech-sector gains helped lift the Nasdaq Composite Index
(RIXF) by almost 25 points to close at 3,401. The Philadelphia
Semiconductor Index (SOX) also closed with a small gain.
Helping spur investor sentiment were the data on initial
unemployment-insurance claims for May, as well as the Commerce
Department saying that consumer spending also went up last
month.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) shares shed 1% to close at $393.78 despite
Susquehanna analyst Chris Caso cutting his price target on the
company's stock to $440 a share from $480
Paychex Inc. (PAYX) ended the day down by 3.7% at $36.60 after
the payroll and human resource-software and services company
reported weaker-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results on
Wednesday.
Tremor Video Inc. (TRMR) shares fell 15% to close at $8.50, as
the video-advertising software company made its public debut.
Tremor priced 7.5 million at $10 each, which was below the expected
IPO range of $11 to $13 a share.
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