NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Technology markets ended down Thursday, despite falling oil prices and a spate of news prompting surges in a diverse set of companies.
The Nasdaq Composite index slipped 0.4 percent to close at 1,852.92. The Philadelphia Semiconductor index lost a little more than 1 percent to close at 380.40.
In companies making news, shares of Apple Computer Inc. rose to their highest level Thursday in nearly four years, ahead of the launch of Hewlett-Packard Co.'s (HPQ: up $0.09 to $18.19, Research, Estimates) version of the iPod digital music player and the launch of Apple's revamped iMac computer.
Shares in Apple (AAPL: up $1.61 to $34.66, Research, Estimates) jumped almost 5 percent.
So far this year, Apple stock has climbed 63 percent, compared with a 7.4 percent decline in the Nasdaq amid a weak overall year for technology shares.
Flextronics International Ltd., the world's largest contract electronics maker, backed a previous profit forecast Thursday and said concerns about higher inventories were overblown. Flextronics (FLEX: Research, Estimates) shares jumped more than 7 percent.
Taser International Inc. said it received four follow-on purchase orders totaling more than $1 million for its stun guns. Taser (TASR: up $1.16 to $28.26, Research, Estimates) shares rose 4.3 percent.
On the downside, Robert W. Baird & Co. downgraded its rating of ADC Telecommunications Inc. to "neutral" from "outperform" a day after the company declared a third-quarter loss of $14.3 million.
Shares in ADC (ADCT: down $0.04 to $2.21, Research, Estimates) lost 1.8 percent.
Most tech bellwethers followed ADC's lead and ended the day down, includingIBM (IBM: down $0.38 to $84.69, Research, Estimates), Intel, (INTC: down $0.18 to $21.77, Research, Estimates) Microsoft (MSFT: down $0.11 to $27.44, Research, Estimates), Cisco (CSCO: down $0.15 to $19.17, Research, Estimates), Oracle (ORCL: down $0.17 to $10.23, Research, Estimates) and Yahoo (YHOO: down $0.20 to $29.17, Research, Estimates).
eBay (EBAY: up $0.75 to $86.41, Research, Estimates) and Google (GOOG: up $1.91 to $107.91, Research, Estimates) proved the exceptions and closed higher.
Toshiba Corp. said it planned to boost output capacity for flash memory chips at a plant in central Japan. Capacity will increase by 7.5 percent to meet robust demand from digital camera and mobile phone manufacturers.
Finally, top federal law enforcement officials announced the conclusion of Operation Web Snare, which brought 53 convictions involving a series of cyber crimes that targeted 150,000 victims.
The operation, which began June 1, wrapped up Thursday with several arrests at locations across the country. Justice Department officials said victims lost more than $215 million.
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