TECH STOCKS: IPhone 6 Sales Help Apple Sidestep Broad Tech Losses

By Rex Crum, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The majority of the tech sector lost ground early Monday and never recovered by the time the market closed, but Apple Inc. managed to edge higher after announcing that it sold more than 10 million units of its new iPhone and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones over the weekend.

It was the first weekend that the new iPhones were on sale in the U.S. and around the world. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said the sales figures "exceeded our expectations" and that the company was working on resolving supply issues that led to some customers getting notices they would have to wait as long as four weeks to get their phones. Some analysts added that the strong iPhone sales could signal record revenue for Apple during the final quarter of the year.

Apple (AAPL) shares rose 10 cents to close at $101.06.

Data-storage technology company EMC Corp. (EMC) was also one of the tech sector's few big-name stocks to rise, as its shares tacked on 15 cents to close at $29.68. A report said EMC, which is facing pressure from activist investor Elliott Management Corp., is considering options that might include a merger with one of its rivals.

Small gains also came from eBay Inc. (EBAY), GoPro Inc. (GPRO) and Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) .

The big story is still Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA), whose shares pulled back by more than 4% to $90.94 following the Chinese Internet giant's U.S. IPO on Friday. Alibaba said Monday that the bank's leading the IPO have the option to purchase another 48 million shares, which could lift the size of the e-commerce company's stock offering from $21.8 billion to $25.03 billion--officially making it the largest IPO ever.

Other decliners included Yahoo Inc. (YHOO), Netflix Inc. (NFLX), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Facebook Inc. (FB).

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) fell 52 points, 1%, to close at 4,527. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) ended the day with a loss of 1.3%.

(Read more about the day's market activity in Movers & Shakers http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid.).

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