By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- With Adobe Systems Inc. in the lead, many tech stocks appeared headed for a day of gains Friday, but losses from tech giant Apple Inc. continued to weigh on the overall sector.
Apple (AAPL) shares fell more than 3% to $512.40. Before the start of trading, UBS analyst Steven Milunovich cut his price target on Apple's stock to $700 a share from $780.
In a research note, Milunovich said he was taking a slightly more conservative view on Apple due to supply chain checks that suggest a decline in iPhone production in the March quarter of 2013, and that the new iPad mini could be cannibalizing some sales of the iPad.
With Apple's losses leading the way, the Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) fell more than 15 points to 2.976. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) and the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index each dipped into the red.
VeriFone Systems Inc. (PAY) shares fell almost 11% to $29.62 after the payment-processing technology company reported a wider quarterly loss late Thursday.
Losses also came from Dell Inc. (DELL), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Seagate Technology (STX) and Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM).
Adobe Systems (ADBE) shares rose almost 5% to $37.25 after the software company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings after the close of trading on Thursday. Adobe earned 61 cents a share, excluding one-time items, on $1.15 billion in revenue, while analysts has forecast the company to earn 57 cents a share, on sales of $1.1 billion.
Groupon Inc. (GRPN) share rose more than 4%, to as high $5.10, making the first time the online daily deal and e-commerce company's stock had been above $5 since Oct. 18.
Other gainers included Oracle Corp. (ORCL), IBM Corp. (IBM), Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) and Nvidia Corp. (NVDA).
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 14, 2012 11:31 ET (16:31 GMT)
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