By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks sought to add to
their previous day's gains Wednesday, with Zynga Inc. and Apple
Inc. among the sector's advancers.
However, the broader market momentum was tempered by reaction to
the latest ADP figures on private-sector payrolls, which showed the
smallest monthly gains since last October.
Zynga (ZNGA) shares flexed their muscles, rising more than 13%,
to $3.47. The online gaming company got a lift as it debuted its
first real-money gambling Web sites in the United Kingdom,
ZyngaPlusPoker and ZyngaPlusCasino.
Facebook Inc. (FB), which many consumer use to play Zynga's
games, rose almost 3%, to $26.11.
Gains also came from Apple (AAPL), which rose 1.4%, to $435.80
following reports that the company will begin production on the
next version of the iPhone this quarter.
But the overall sector showed signs of weakness as trading
progressed, as the numbers for private-payroll growth
disappointed.
The results, from ADP (ADP), showed private-sector jobs growing
by of 158,000 in March, a figure that fell below expectations of
215,000 job gains. In February, ADP reported a revised gain of
237,000 jobs.
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) was among the standout decliners, as its
shares fell 6% to $165.81. On Tuesday, the Securities and Exchange
Commission cleared Netflix and Chief Executive Reed Hastings of any
wrongdoing when Hastings used his Facebook page last summer to
report the company's online-streaming viewing hours for the month
of June.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) fell 9 points to 3,245, while
the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) was also in the red.
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