NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Tech stocks managed a slight gain Tuesday in another light trading session, but Intel limited the rise as a number of analysts issued cautious comments on the world's largest chipmaker before its mid-quarter update.

The Nasdaq Composite pulled into positive territory in late trading to close with a 0.1 percent gain, but the Philadelphia Semiconductor index, led by Intel with a 1.4 percent dip, posted a loss of 0.7 percent for its second consecutive loss of the week.

Morgan Stanley cut its price target on Intel shares to $28 from $32 before the company gives its mid-quarter update Thursday after the closing bell.

Morgan noted that "sluggish demand trends and the need to reduce inventories suggest that the company's fixed cost absorption will be less than ideal, which may lead to negative gross margin surprises during some or all of the next few quarters."

Other firms weighed in on Intel (INTC: Research, Estimates), with Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan and Prudential all sounding wary before Thursday.

The Goldman Sachs software index posted a loss of 0.3 percent, while the Internet index and hardware index closed flat.

Despite a flat sector, PalmOne (PLMO: Research, Estimates) tumbled Tuesday on concerns that Nokia may be making a push into the personal digital assistant market.

Apple Computer (AAPL: Research, Estimates) fared better than PalmOne as it posted a 1 percent gain after the company introduced its new iMac desktop computer model.

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While usually slow, volume for the first trading days of the week has been anemic as many traders have taken vacation while the Republican National Convention runs in New York City.

About 1.3 billion shares traded hands Tuesday after a 1 billion session Monday.