US technology stocks sagged Monday, as pessimism from Merrill Lynch about the global semiconductor industry hit Intel Corp and others, but blue chips rose as a pullback in oil prices soothed investors.
Merrill Lynch revised its recommendation on the global
semiconductor sector to "underweight" from "overweight," saying
it believed the shares offered no upside from current levels.
Merrill also cut its specific recommendations on a number of semiconductor firms, including Intel, the world's largest chip maker. Intel was cut to "neutral" from "buy".
With these conflicting market currents, the broader market ended the day with a nominal gain, one day before Intel reports quarterly earnings.
The Standard & Poor's 500 inched up 1.54 points, or 0.14 percent, to 1,114.35, according to the latest data, while the Dow Jones industrial average added 25 points, or 0.24 percent, to 10,238.22. Reflecting the weakness in technology shares, the Nasdaq composite dropped 9.41 points, or 0.48 percent, to 1,936.92.
Comments
Comments are closed.