By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks rebounded to close
higher Friday, with National Semiconductor Corp.and other chip
stocks taking the spotlight and leading to gains across the
sector.
Earlier, the tech sector mirrored the broader market's
uncertainty in the wake of an 8.9-magnitude earthquake that rattled
Japan.
National Semi (NSM) rose 54 cents, or almost 4%, to close at
$14.70 after the chip maker's fourth-quarter revenue forecast fell
in line with analysts' estimates.
Late Thursday, National Semi said it expects quarterly sales of
$360 million to $370 million, while analysts surveyed by Thomson
Reuters had forecast revenue of $367 million.
That outlook was enough to inspire investors, even though
National Semi also reported third-quarter earnings of 24 cents a
share on $344 million in sales. The company's profit was in line
with estimates, but its sales fell short of Wall Street's $352
million forecast.
Other chip stocks on the rise included Micron Technology Inc.
(MU), which rose 3.2%, and LSI Corp. (LSI), up 4.4%. Texas
Instruments Inc. (TXN) and Xilinx Corp. (XLNX) also scored
gains.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose more than 14 points to
close at 2,715. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) added 1%
by the time the market closed.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) rose $5.32 a share to $351.99 as the company's
new iPad 2 device went on sale.
Clearwire Corp. (CLWR) managed to eke out a gain of a penny a
share to close at $5.76. The wireless-network operator said
Thursday that Chief Executive Bill Morrow and two other top
executives resigned.
Clearwire said Chairman John Stanton will replace Morrow on an
interim basis, and promoted Chief Financial Officer Erik Prusch to
chief operating officer.