By Dan Gallagher, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) ? Apple Inc. posted solid gains on Wednesday, fueling the Nasdaq and the rest of the tech sector despite notable dips by Google Inc. and Dell Inc.
The Nasdaq Composite /quotes/zigman/12633936 COMP +0.22% rose 7 point, or 0.2%, to close at 3,118, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index /quotes/zigman/1468249 SOX +1.15% added 1.2%. The Morgan Stanley High-Tech Index was up a fraction.
Apple /quotes/zigman/68270/quotes/nls/aapl AAPL +4.15% , which has a heavy weighting on the Nasdaq, jumped 4.2% to close at $506.09. The stock has been under heavy selling pressure of late, losing nearly 7% over the last two trading sessions on worries about potentially slowing sales of its iPhone 5.
Several brokers issued positive notes on Apple before the open, pointing to strong results expected for the first fiscal quarter that the company will report next week. Katy Huberty of Morgan Stanley wrote that recent concerns about iPhone sales ?are overblown,? and she reiterated her overweight rating and $714 price target on the stock.
/quotes/zigman/68270/quotes/nls/aapl AAPL 506.09, +20.17, +4.15%That helped to offset a downgrade by Pacific Crest ? the second notable downgrade the highly favored stock has seen over the past month.
Analyst Andy Hargreaves lowered his rating on Apple to sector perform, or neutral, citing ?evidence of high-end market saturation? as the primary reason for the move. ?We believe the high ends of the smartphone and tablet markets are quickly becoming saturated, which is likely to limit Apple?s growth by pressuring unit volume and driving a mix shift to lower-margin product.?
Google Inc. /quotes/zigman/93888/quotes/nls/goog GOOG -1.34% slipped 1.3% to close at $715.19. Following the introduction of Facebook?s ?graph search? tool the previous day, some analysts speculated on the potential impact to Google?s core Web search business.
?As of now, we do not see Graph Search as a threat to Google Web search,? wrote Justin Post of Bank of America/Merrill Lynch in a note to clients, adding that ?looking forward, Facebook Graph searches could be competitive with certain categories of Google searches, such as Places and Maps.?
He said Facebook remains ?a small overhang? on Google?s shares. He lifted his price target on Facebook /quotes/zigman/9962609/quotes/nls/fb FB -0.83% to $35 from $31. Facebook shares were last trading down a fraction as other analysts issued mixed reactions on the new graph search feature. Read: Facebook graph search gets muted reviews
Is 'Graph Search' a moneymaker?
Does Facebook plus Google equal Graph Search? Is Facebook finally going to make money in a way that pleases investors?
Yelp /quotes/zigman/9021597/quotes/nls/yelp YELP -1.21% shares fell 1.2% to close at $20.36 after Northland Capital downgraded the stock to an underperform rating, saying the new Facebook feature is ?highly competitive? to Yelp?s core business.
Dell /quotes/zigman/27952/quotes/nls/dell DELL -4.25% shares fell 4.3% to close at $12.61 after gaining more than 20% over the previous two session on rumors that the PC maker may go private.
EBay Inc. /quotes/zigman/76117/quotes/nls/ebay EBAY +0.75% was up a fraction closing at $52.90, ahead of its fourth-quarter earnings, scheduled for after the closing bell. Analysts are expecting a 17% gain in revenues for the period. Read: Mobile efforts set to lead eBay's results
Yahoo Inc. /quotes/zigman/59898/quotes/nls/yhoo YHOO +2.82% shares jumped 2.8% to close at $20.07, possibly on speculation about IPO plans by Alibaba, though the Chinese company flatly denied a Bloomberg report that it is making such plans.
Shares of Hewlett-Packard /quotes/zigman/229301/quotes/nls/hpq HPQ +4.11% also rose 4.1% to close at $17.21 after The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources that potential buyers have expressed interest in acquiring Autonomy Corp. An H-P spokesman said the company doesn't comment on speculation.
Also in the red were shares of Netflix Inc. /quotes/zigman/87598/quotes/nls/nflx NFLX -4.14% which shed 4% to close at $97.48.
/quotes/zigman/12633936
US : U.S.: Nasdaq
Volume: 0.00
Jan. 16, 2013 5:16p
/quotes/zigman/1468249 US : PHLX Ind Cur
Volume: 0.00
Jan. 16, 2013 5:16p
/quotes/zigman/68270/quotes/nls/aapl US : U.S.: Nasdaq
Volume: 24.36M
Jan. 16, 2013 4:00p
Market Cap$456.30 billion
/quotes/zigman/93888/quotes/nls/goog US : U.S.: Nasdaq
Volume: 1.99M
Jan. 16, 2013 4:00p
Market Cap$238.21 billion
/quotes/zigman/9962609/quotes/nls/fb US : U.S.: Nasdaq
Volume: 74.95M
Jan. 16, 2013 4:00p
/quotes/zigman/9021597/quotes/nls/yelp US : U.S.: NYSE
Volume: 1.82M
Jan. 16, 2013 4:01p
/quotes/zigman/27952/quotes/nls/dell US : U.S.: Nasdaq
Volume: 75.25M
Jan. 16, 2013 4:00p
Rev. per Employee$535,603
/quotes/zigman/76117/quotes/nls/ebay US : U.S.: Nasdaq
Volume: 17.20M
Jan. 16, 2013 4:00p
Rev. per Employee$483,238
/quotes/zigman/59898/quotes/nls/yhoo US : U.S.: Nasdaq
Volume: 33.13M
Jan. 16, 2013 4:00p
Rev. per Employee$352,121
/quotes/zigman/229301/quotes/nls/hpq US : U.S.: NYSE
Volume: 46.78M
Jan. 16, 2013 4:00p
Rev. per Employee$361,465
/quotes/zigman/87598/quotes/nls/nflx US : U.S.: Nasdaq
Volume: 3.98M
Jan. 16, 2013 4:00p
Dan Gallagher is MarketWatch's technology editor, based in San Francisco. Follow him on Twitter @MWDanGallagher.
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