By Benjamin Pimentel, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Technology stocks were modestly higher on Tuesday, but shares of Zynga Inc. and NetApp Inc. gave up early gains to close in the red.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) edged up 0.6% to close at 2,854.
After posting gains early in the session, Zynga (ZNGA) fell 5% to close at $5.76 as the company unveiled new games at a company event in San Francisco.
NetApp (NTAP) lost 1.2% to close at $29.66 as the data-storage-systems company held its analyst day.
Meanwhile, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) saw its shares rise 0.5% to close at $30.02, one of the top gainers on the Dow Jones Industrial Average(DJI) . The Dow was up 32 points as Wall Street welcomed news of modest improvement in housing prices.
The sector was weighed down by losses in shares of Dell Inc. (DELL), Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) as J.P. Morgan cautioned that the impact of the European financial crisis "will likely persist for years."
"We remain cautious on the global economy and its potential impact on overall IT spending and more specifically, the software sector," analyst John DiFucci said in a note on the software industry. "Europe, the financial services vertical, and U.S. government spending remain key areas of concern."
