TECH STOCKS: Techs Dip As Juniper Sinks; Xilinx, Palm Rise

By Benjamin Pimentel

The tech sector dipped late Wednesday morning as shares of Juniper Networks tumbled after the networking gear maker was downgraded to neutral by Baird & Co..

Juniper (JNPR) shares were down more than 2% after Baird analyst Kenneth Muth downgraded the company saying "at current prices we feel the stock is already reflecting an improved and bullish 2010 outlook."

Meanwhile, shares of Xilinx (XLNX) jumped more than 4% after the San Jose, Calif.-based company said it expects sales to rise roughly 10% sequentially. Previously, the company had expected sales to increase by roughly 2% to 6% sequentially.

Shares of Palm (PALM) gained more than 1% after the wireless device maker priced a public offering of 20 million shares at $16.25 a share.

Despite these gains, the Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) was down a fraction at 2,144. The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) also was down 0.1%, but the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) added about 1%.

Major chip makers saw their shares rise, including Intel Corp. (INTC), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Texas Instruments (TXN).

Other major tech players also were in positive territory, including Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)

However, other companies were in the red, including Cisco Systems (CSCO), Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and eBay Inc. (EBAY)