By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Apple Inc. posted its highest
close in almost a year on a day that mostly saw gains across the
tech sector. H-P closed Tuesday with a slight loss, but then
rallied in after-hours trading after reporting a profit in the
latest quarter.
Apple (AAPL) shares rose $9.66, or almost 2%, to close at
$533.40, the highest finish for the iPhone and iPad maker since
Dec. 2012.
In addition to Apple, many social media stocks closed with gains
Tuesday following the prior-day's losses. Yelp Inc. (YELP) rose
6.4%, to $61.92; Pandora Media Inc. (P) climbed by almost 3%, to
$28.79; Facebook Inc. (FB) rose 2.4%, to close at $45.89 and
Twitter Inc. (TWTR) gained nearly 3% to end the day at $40.18.
Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PANW) shares rose more than 7%, to
close at $49.49 a day after the network-security technology company
reported upbeat quarterly results.
The tech-sector gains helped push the Nasdaq Composite Index
(RIXF) up by more than 23 points to 4,017, while the Philadelphia
Semiconductor Index (SOX) rose almost 1%.
H-P (HPQ) was last up nearly 7% in after-hours trade. After the
market closed, H-P reported a fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $1.01
a share on $29.1 billion in revenue. Analysts surveyed by FactSet
had forecast H-P to earn $1 a share on revenue of $27.86
billion.
H-P's results also come following mixed results from IBM Corp.
(IBM) and Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), and amid growing concerns
about the turnaround efforts launched by Chief Executive Meg
Whitman.
Videogame publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO)
fell by 92 cents a share, or more than 5%, to $16.01 after the
company said it would buy back more than 12 million shares of its
stock owned by activist investor Carl Ichan for $203.5 million.
Three Take-Two directors that were nominated by Icahn also resigned
from Take-Two's board.
Follow Rex Crum on Twitter @mktwcrum
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