NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Technology stocks inched up slightly on Monday, led upward by software companies like tech bellwether Microsoft Corp.
The Nasdaq Composite index finished 0.68 points, or 0.04 percent, higher at 1,883.83, while the S&P 500 lost 0.49 points, or 0.04 percent, to close at 1,100.90.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor index climbed 2.80 points, or 0.7 percent, to end at 413.26.
Microsoft shares rose after Goldman Sachs analyst Rick Sherlund said the software giant may beat the consensus forecasts. But the veteran Microsoft analyst left his estimates unchanged for the company's fourth quarter, which ended in June.
Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates) stock rose 52 cents, or nearly 2 percent, to close $28.00, making it the biggest boost to the broad S&P 500 and the technology-driven Nasdaq.
Shares of business software makers also got a boost after business weekly Barron's ran a story saying the woes of such companies have made their shares "compellingly cheap" and, thus, some business software makers ripe for acquisition.
Other software makers named included BMC Software (BMC: Research, Estimates), up 39 cents at $15.16, BEA Systems (BEAS: Research, Estimates), up 18 cents at $6.81, and Siebel Systems (SEBL: Research, Estimates), up 13 cents at $7.73.
Among other tech heavyweights, Oracle Corp. (ORCL: up $0.11 to $10.33, Research, Estimates) finished more than 1 percent higher, while Cisco Systems (CSCO: down $0.17 to $21.36, Research, Estimates) stock lost 0.8 percent.
Sun Microsystems (SUNW: up $0.24 to $3.94, Research, Estimates) and Intel Corp. (INTC: up $0.18 to $22.91, Research, Estimates) both finished on the upside.
On the downside, shares of Lexmark International fell after the printer maker reported a sharp rise in quarterly earnings on strong sales of printers and ink cartridges, but its forecast disappointed investors.
Analysts said the company's third-quarter outlook was not as aggressive as some observers had hoped.
Lexmark (LXK: down $6.38 to $84.00, Research, Estimates) stock closed more than 7 percent lower on the report.
Shares of online DVD renter Netflix Inc. (NFLX: Research, Estimates) lost more than 12 percent on Monday, marking the company's second consecutive sharp decline as a financial analyst downgraded the stock in the face of an emerging competitive threat.
Thomas Weisel Partners' Gordon Hodge cut his rating on Netflix to "peer perform" from "outperform" based on a lower-than-expected pricing plan of a competing online rental service currently being tested by video retailer Blockbuster Inc. (BBI: Research, Estimates)
Hodge reduced his forecast for Netflix's 2005 earnings, before noncash compensation costs, to $1.00 per share from $1.30 per share. Netflix shares were off 12.4 percent, or $2.85, at $20.17 on the Nasdaq.
Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI: down $0.16 to $2.31, Research, Estimates) was the most actively traded stock on the Nasdaq, while Boston Scientific (BSX: down $1.25 to $36.15, Research, Estimates) was the most active on the New York Stock Exchange.
The heart device maker said it plans to expand its recall of a popular heart device because of a malfunction.
-- from staff and wire reports
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