TECH STOCKS: Netflix, Amazon, Yahoo Gains Fail To Lift Techs

By Benjamin Pimentel, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Technology stocks were mostly lower Tuesday, despite gains in shares of Netflix Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Amazon.com.

Netflix (NFLX) and Yahoo (YHOO) each rose 1.4%, while Amazon (AMZN) gained 2%, bucking a downward slide in the sector, which saw the Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) shed 0.5% to 4,107. the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index(MSH) and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) were each down a fraction.

After posting gains earlier in the session, shares of Facebook Inc. (FB) slipped 0.2%, despite an upbeat note from Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Youssef Squali, who reaffirmed a buy rating on the stock.

One of the factors Squali cited was potential gains from Facebook's WhatsApp messaging service. The company, which Facebook recently acquired for $19 billion, "is a multi-billion dollar opportunity" for the tech giant," he wrote.

"WhatsApp surpassed 500 million users in April with a target of 1 billion plus users before starting to aggressively pursue monetization," he told clients in a note. "Given the communication nature of WhatsApp and its high-value proposition, one could easily see how valuable this platform is."

Google (GOOGL) shares were also up more than 1%. But the sector was weighed down by declining shares of Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) , Intel Corp.(INTC) , and Cisco Systems.(CSCO)

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