Technology Sector Falls; Apple Defies Weakness

Published on Friday, 10 February 2012 14:01 Written by Christopher Lynn

New York, February 10^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Technology stocks were falling along with the broad market on growing doubts Greece would be able to pass a deal that meet its creditors requirements in order to access a new trench of financial aid.

Yesterday, the Technology SPDR ETF (NYSE: XLK) jumped to a new 52-week high of $28.27. This session the ETF was practically giving back the prior session gains. Limiting the gains in the sector were shares of Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), Visa (NYSE: V), and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL).

Salesforce.com was jumping to the top of the sector, with a 2.5% gain after Piper Jaffray said that the Facebook was increasing its commitment to CRM platform and that the company closed a $140 million deal in its financial services vertical.

Apple’s momentum continued. Shares logged a new all-time high of $497.62, as participants keep pushing the stock towards the $500 psychological barrier. Helping the move higher was ongoing chatter over a possible Apple dividend and reports that the tech giant could launch its new iPad 3 as soon as early March. Several analysts have bumped their price targets on the stock above the $600 level. Yesterday, Needham raised its target price to $620 from $520, citing the push the company is doing in the business market with its iPad and the halo effect it could have on Mac sales, while Canaccord Genuity bumped its target price to $665 from $650 on strong iPhone sales momentum.

Visa (NYSE: V) was also moving higher, extending its positive move from the prior session, which came after a solid earnings report and a buyback announcement. The stock was climbing 1.22% to $113.79 after posting a new all-time high of $114.

Weighing on the sector, were shares of First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) and Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA). The solar panels maker was tumbling close to 9% after it was downgraded to a Neutral at Collins Stewart. While Electronic Arts was falling 3.4% to $17.26 after it was downgraded to a Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie and after research firm NPD said that sales of video games in the U.S. tumbled 34% year over year in January, with consumers purchasing more games in smartphones and or social media platforms.