By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gains from Apple Inc. and Groupon
Inc. stood out Friday, but losses still weighed as the tech sector
retreated along with the broader market following the latest
figures on the U.S. inflation levels.
Apple (AAPL) rose 2.3%, to $442.403 even though its top rival
Samsung made a splash late Thursday with the unveiling of its
Galaxy S4 smartphone. Several analysts that cover Apple remained
upbeat about the company's mobile-phone prospects even with the
launch of the Galaxy S4. See: Apple shares up despite Galaxy S4
threat.
Groupon Inc. (GRPN) shares also performed well, rising 7%, to
$5.43. The online daily deal company received a positive
endorsement from noted Legg Mason investor Bill Miller, who while
on the CNBC cable channel said he liked Groupon's stock "a lot" and
noted the company has $1.2 billion in cash and no debt.
But Apple and Groupon were among the day's outliers, as
investors reacted negatively to the Labor Department saying
consumer prices in February rose 0.7%, the highest gain since June
2009. A surprise spike in gasoline prices was among the main
reasons for the overall price increase. See: Inflation highest in
more than three years.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) trimmed its losses, but was
still down by 9 points at 3,249, while the Philadelphia
Semiconductor Index (SOX) gave up 1.7%.
One of the biggest percentage drops among tech stocks came from
solid-state-drive maker Stec Inc. (STEC), which fell 12.5%, to
$4.81 a share. On Thursday, Stec reported a wider quarterly loss
and the company's top shareholder, Balch Hill LLC, called from for
Stec co-founders Mark Moshayedi and Manouch Moshaeydi to resign
from the company's board of directors. Balch Hill holds a 9% stake
in Stec.
Online professional-services recommendation company Angie's List
Inc. (ANGI) nearly reached its break-even point of $19.86 a share
after earlier falling as much as 4%. Late Thursday, Angie's List
said Chief Financial Officer Robert Millard would step down at the
end of the quarter. Controller Charles Hundt will be interim CFO
until a replacement for Millard is found.
Analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray, who recently initiated
coverage of Angie's List with an outperform rating and $25-a-share
target price, said Millard's departure as CFO was "a surprise,
given that there was nothing really negative of late" to come from
the company. See: Angie's List gets high marks as shares rise.
Other losses came from AOL Inc. (AOL), which was down almost 4%
at $35.14; Zynga Inc. (ZNGA), off by 3% at $3.58 a share, and eBay
Inc. (EBAY), which gave up 2% to trade at $50.70.
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