TECH STOCKS: Techs Join Broad Market Retreat, But H-P Rises

By Benjamin Pimentel, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Technology stocks joined a broad market retreat on Monday as Wall Street reacted to a controversial bank bailout plan in Cyprus.

But the sector selloff eased up a bit as shares of Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and Glu Mobile Inc. (GLUU) posted solid gains, and Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) also turned positive.

The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) was still down, giving up 14 points, or 0.4%, to stand at 3,235. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) and the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) were each down fractionally.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was down 36 points at 14,460 as investors were stunned by news that euro-zone leaders are pushing for a levy on Cypriot bank deposits to cover the cost of a rescue.

Major tech issues were in the red, including Dow components Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) and IBM Corp.(IBM)

Hewlett-Packard bucked the trend, rising 2.4% to emerge as the best Dow performer. H-P got a lift from a Morgan Stanley note upgrading the stock to overweight, or buy, citing the Silicon Valley giant's free cash flow potential.

Also defying gravity were shares of mobile-gaming company Glu Mobile, up 14%. Northland Capital Markets analyst Darren Aftahi upgraded the stock to outperform from market perform, pointing to signs of better-than-expected sales from smartphone games.

Social-media stocks were struggling. Facebook Inc. (FB) was off a fraction at $26.64, while LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD) was down 2.3%. Zynga Inc (ZNGA) also was behind 2%.

Chip stocks were in retreat mode. SanDisk Corp. (SNDK) was down more 1%, while Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) and Texas Instruments (TXN) were each behind a fraction. However, Intel Corp (INTC) was trading flat.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) shares were trading flat at $2.60. Macquarie Capital raised the stock's rating to outperform, citing the company's potential in the company's videogame business.

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