In the volatile technology sector, Microsoft
(MSFT) came under fire, losing 2-9/16 to 141-3/4,
after a company official said late Tuesday that the
software giant was feeling the effect of declines in
computer sales in Japan. But the official also said
there was no significant change in the company's
earnings outlook.
Microsoft's statement came in the wake of
disappointing results by another software maker,
Oracle (ORCL), which led the market down
Tuesday after blaming the Asian turbulence for its
poor earnings. Following a 29 percent drop
Tuesday, the stock bounced back slightly, trading up
1/4 to 23-3/16. Oracle was still the most active
stock after setting a volume record Tuesday, when
more than 171 million shares of the company were
traded.
"All American companies that provide high- tech
products and also capital equipment for the Asian
economic miracle are going to be hurt because
there's an adjustment process that has to be gone
through in Asia," said Roger Kubarych, an economist
at Kaufman & Kubarych. "It's going to take two to
three years, and in the meantime they're going to see
lower sales in Asia."
The Microsoft-Oracle Asian contagion quickly
spread into other technology stocks. On the Nasdaq,
shares of Dell (DELL) fell 3-11/16 to 90-1/4 and
3Com (COMS) lost 2-1/8 to 35-1/2. On the
NYSE, IBM (IBM) tumbled 4-1/8 to 106-1/4 while
Compaq (CPQ) fell 3-1/2 to 59-7/8. |
