By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks were mostly on the
rise by midday Wednesday as Facebook and Amazon picked up gains
while BlackBerry shares slipped on fresh doubts about the
smartphone maker's plan to go private.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) picked up about 0.1% to 3,772,
while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) edged up by 0.3%
and the Morgan Stanley High-Tech Index (MSH) rose by 0.5%.
Amazon.com (AMZN) picked up modest gains following the
announcement of its new Kindle Fire HDX tablets. The stock was last
up 0.3% to $315.
Late Tuesday, Amazon introduced the Kindle Fire HDX, which adds
a "Mayday" button to its features that will connect a person with a
live tech support from Amazon. The newest version of the Kindle
will come with screens measuring 7-inches or 8.9-inches, and cost
between $229 and $479. Amazon shares rose $1 to $315.22 in early
trading Wednesday.
Facebook Inc. (FB) shares rose more than 1%,to $49. Canaccord
Genuity analyst Michael Graham initiated his coverage of Facebook
with a buy rating and $60-a-share price target. It was the latest
in a line of bullish notes from brokers on the social network,
which has surged 25% over the last month and is nearing the $50
mark.
BlackBerry (RIMM) shares were off by 4% to $8.20 -- trading at a
sharp discount to the $9-per-share price offered in a pending
buyout deal from Fairfax Financial. Bernstein Research analyst
Pierre Ferragu wrote in a note to clients Wednesday that he doubts
the offer will go through, given that Fairfax has not yet lined up
consortium partners or the necessary financing.
"As Fairfax, BlackBerry's largest shareholder, is not willing to
commit any more equity, we think it will be unlikely that enough
other investors will be joining the bid that sounds like a last
chance rescue attempt for Fairfax's stake," he wrote, adding that
financial sponsors may also be reluctant to back the deal.
Gains also came from Yahoo Inc. (YHOO), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)
and Oracle Corp. (ORCL)
Oracle was up by 28 cents a share at $33.92 as the company
continued with its annual OpenWorld conference in San Francisco.
Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison had been scheduled to address
the conference on Tuesday, but skipped his planned keynote to watch
his Oracle Team USA in the America's Cup yacht races held in the
San Francisco Bay.
Declines came from Apple Inc. (AAPL) , off by 1.2% at $483.26,
as well as from IBM Corp. (IBM) , eBay Inc. (EBAY) ,
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and Priceline.com Inc. (PCLN)
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