TECH STOCKS: Apple Losses Stand Out As Tech Stocks Turn South

By Rex Crum, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks gave up much of their gains by the close of trading Thursday, with Apple Inc. closing in the red as anticipation continued to grow about what the company has in store for a coming company event next week.

Apple (AAPL) ended the day down almost 1%, at $98.12, one day after investors pared 4% off the company's shares. Speculation is rife that, in addition to launching the iPhone 6, Apple may also debut a smartwatch and incorporate digital wallet technology into its mobile devices.

Digital-camera maker GoPro Inc. (GPRO) lost 6.7% to end the day at $53.08. Before the market opened, J.P. Morgan analyst Paul Coster cut his rating on GoPro to neutral from overweight, citing GoPro shares' rapid pace of growth. They're up 137% since GoPro went public on June 25.

Other decliners included Pandora Media Inc. (P), which fell 5.6%; Groupon Inc. (GRPN), off by 2%, and Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), which shed 1% to close at $37.66.

Amazon (AMZN) shares bucked the losing trend and rose 2% to close at $345.95 a day after the company announced Brian Olsavsky, a vice president for Amazon's global consumer business, will succeed Chief Financial Officer Tom Szkutak, who plans to retire next summer.

Twitter Inc. (TWTR), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Facebook Inc. (FB) also notched gains.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) fell 10 points to close at 4,562, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) edged into positive territory.

(Read more about the days market action in Movers & Shakers http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid.).

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