TECH STOCKS: Facebook Rises, But Oracle Weighs On Techs

By Benjamin Pimentel, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Facebook Inc. shares rose Friday, getting a lift from a UBS upgrade, but the tech sector took a hit from slumping shares of Oracle Corp.

Facebook (FB) was up 2%, a day after the social network rolled out a video feature for its popular Instagram photo-sharing service.

UBS analyst Eric Sheridan upgraded the stock to buy from neutral, citing Facebook's "focused monetization efforts."

But shares of Oracle (ORCL) tumbled nearly 9%, a day after the Redwood City, Calif.-based technology company reported revenue that fell short of expectations.

Oracle was the top decliner on the S&P 500 (SPX) which was up a fraction.

The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) struggled to stay in positive territory, and was last down 4 points, or 0.1%, at 3,360. The benchmark was poised to end the week down about 2%.

The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (SPX) was also down a fraction, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) managed to hang on to a fractional gain, as shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Intel Corp. (INTC) posted gains.

On the downside, shares of Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) were down 1%, while Apple Inc. (AAPL) and IBM Corp (IBM) each shed a fraction.

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