By Benjamin Pimentel, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Hewlett-Packard Co.,
Twitter Inc. and Microsoft Corp. rallied to lead the tech sector
higher on Wednesday.
H-P (HPQ) rose 2.3% to close at $28.13. The Palo Alto,
Calif.-based technology giant plans to cut 1,100 jobs in the U.K.,
according to BBC News. An H-P spokesman confirmed the report saying
the reductions are "part of H-P's global multi-year productivity
initiative that was announced on May 23, 2012." As part of that
plan, H-P is in the process of eliminating 33,000 to 34,000 jobs
globally by the end of its fiscal year 2014.
Microsoft (MSFT) shares gained 1.6% to close at $38.94.
Microsoft last closed above $38.94 on July 18, 2000, when it ended
the day at $39.25.
Twitter (TWTR) climbed 5.6% to close at $43.69, leading a
mini-rally in social-media stocks. Facebook Inc. (FB) gained 4% to
close at $48.62, while LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD) gained 1.2% to close
at $219.02.
Shares of Pandora Media (P) rose 4% to close at $29.41. The
online radio company reported 1.49 billion listener hours for
November, up from 1.27 billion hours a year ago and 1.47 billion
hours in October. Active listeners rose to 72.4 million, a 16%
increase from November 2012, while Pandora's share of the U.S.
radio market climbed to 8.44%, up from 7.17% a year ago.
On the downside, shares of eBay Inc. (EBAY) shed 1.6% to close
at $51.09. Evercore analyst Ken Sena downgraded the stock to equal
weight from overweight, citing potentially stiffer competition in
the U.K., particularly for its mobile-payment business.
Shares of Apple (AAPL) and Cisco Systems (CSCO) were each down a
fraction.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) edged higher by a fraction to
close at 4,038. The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) gained
0.4%, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) shed
0.5%.
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