By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- A late-session surge by Dell Inc.
added to what already had been a day of strong gains for the tech
sector on Wednesday, as the PC maker's shares rose following a
report that investor activist Car Icahn has taken a large position
in the company.
Dell (DELL) shares ended the day up nearly 2% to close at $14.32
after CNBC reported that Icahn purchased nearly 100 million of the
company's shares. The move comes as the company is battling some of
its larger shareholders over a pending privatization deal that
values Dell at $13.65 per share.
Dell's rise added to the lift for the sector, which was already
enjoying its second session of gains that put the Dow at a fresh
record high. Dow components Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) and
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) led the way with gains of more than 2%
each, along with strong upticks by Intel Corp.(INTC) and
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM)
Those four tech bellwethers' gains added to the Dow Jones
Industrial Average's (DJI) advance, with the index rising 42 points
to close at 14,296. Also helping give the market a boost were the
latest numbers on private-sector jobs from Automatic Data
Processing Inc. The ADP report said the private sector added a
better-than-expected 198,000 jobs in February. See: Private-sector
jobs growth beats expectations.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) failed to join in the day's gains, as the
company's shares gave up 1.3% to close at $425.66 after Citigroup
and Barclays Capital both cut their price targets on the stock,
citing projections for lower iPhone and iPad sales in the March
quarter. Read: Apple targets cut as brokers see slowdown
Among other tech stocks, Tibco Software Inc. (TIBX) shares rose
more than 11%, to close at $23.37, after Bank of America/Merrill
Lynch analyst Kash Ragan raised his rating on the company to buy
from neutral and reiterated his price target of $26 a share. Ragan
said that with Tibco not warning on its quarterly results before
the report's March 21 release, the potential for a negative report
has been limited.
Groupon Inc. (GRPN) gave up its early gains to fall 6% and close
at $5.29 a share. On Tuesday, Groupon Chief Financial Officer Jason
Child told a tech conference that the company wasn't planning on
any major changes in strategy as it searches for a new CEO. See:
Groupon faces questions about future direction.
There were also reports from Bloomberg saying that Groupon will
focus on CEO candidates from outside the company, with a goal of
hiring a new CEO within three to six months.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) shares were trimmed by almost 1% to close
at $28.09. On Wednesday, the European Union fined the software
giant $733 million for failing to offer consumers a choice of Web
browser other than Microsoft's own Explorer with new versions of
the Windows operating system.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) ended the day down by almost 2
points at 3,222, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX)
and the Morgan Stanley High-Tech Index (MSH) each closed with small
gains.
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