By Rex Crum
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks climbed along with
the broader market Tuesday, with Oracle Corp. in the spotlight as
the software giant made another acquisition and headed to the
courthouse to determine damages it is seeking in a case with SAP
AG.
Shares of Oracle (ORCL) rose about 1% after the company said it
would acquire Art Technology Group Inc. (ARTG) for $1 billion, or
$6 a share, valuing ATG at a 46% premium to its Monday closing
price. Shares of ATG, which develops on-demand and e-commerce
software applications, rallied about 45% at last check.
Also, Oracle was set to go to federal court in Oakland, Calif.,
to begin the process of determining damages it is seeking from SAP
(SAP) in a case of intellectual-property theft committed by a
former SAP subsidiary.
Video-game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. (ERTS) shares rose
about 1% before the release of the company's fiscal second-quarter
results, due after the market close.
Rackspace Hosting Inc. (RAX) shares climbed 7.5% as speculation
mounted that the cloud-and-managed-hosting technology company could
be acquired by Dell Inc. (DELL).
Speaking at a conference in Hong Kong, Dell Chief Executive
Michael Dell said his company would make an announcement about a
cloud-computing acquisition, but gave no further details on Dell's
plans.
Gains also came from Apple Inc. (AAPL), Google Inc. (GOOG) and
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT).
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose 14 points to 2,519. The
Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) and the Morgan Stanley High
Tech 35 Index (MSH) also edged upward.
Decliners included Hutchinson Technology Inc. (HTCH). The maker
of suspension assemblies for hard-disk drives fell almost 7% to
$3.19 following a disappointing quarterly earnings report and
forecast. Analyst Mark Miller of Noble Financial Group cut his
rating on Hutchinson's stock to sell from hold.