By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Mild gains came from Amazon.com
Inc. Wednesday, but the overall tech sector remained in the red as
Deustche Bank cut its view on Microsoft Corp. and several other
software companies.
Amazon (AMZN) shares rose 2%, to $270.70 following reports that
the online retailing giant will expand its grocery delivery
service, AmazonFresh, to Los Angeles. Amazon currently delivers
only in Seattle. Mark Mahaney, of RBC Capital Markets, said in
research note that the expansion of grocery delivery "makes
strategic sense as part of AMZN's long standing efforts to expand
into more consumer offerings and to take advantage of its low cost
infrastructure advantage and expanded U.S. fulfillment center
footprint."
The move comes one day after Amazon said it had reached a deal
with Viacom Inc. (VIA) to carry programs from the Nickelodeon, Nick
Jr. MTV and Comedy Central networks over its Amazon Prime Instant
video service.
Netflix Inc. (NFLX), which gave up the Viacom programming in
May, was up by 79 cents a share at $226.19.
Dell Inc. (DELL) shares rose 2 cents to $13.44. The battle to
take the PC company private heated up, as a special committee of
Dell board members said an offer by activist investor Carl Ichan
falls short by $4 billion and restated its support of a $24.4
billion buyout proposal from Chief Executive Michael Dell and
private equity firm Silver Lake Partners.
Microsoft (MSFT) was among the decliners, giving up almost 1%,
to trade at $34.74, as Deutsche Bank cut its rating on the company
to hold from buy.
VMware Inc. (VMW) shares shed 1% to $67.80. Intuit Inc. (INTU)
was also down slightly, at $57.42 a share, as Deutsche Bank also
cut the ratings on the software companies to hold from buy.
Losses also came from Apple Inc. (AAPL), IBM Corp. (IBM),
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), Yahoo Inc. (YHOO), eBay Inc. (EBAY) and
Intel Corp. (INTC).
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) fell 13 points to 3,422, while
the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) gave up almost 1%.
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