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 court to
determine damages it's seeking in a trade-secrets case from SAP
AG.
Oracle (ORCL) shares rose nearly 1% to $29.40 after the company
said it would acquire Art Technology Group Inc. (ARTG) for $1
billion.
The $6-a-share buyout price values Art Technology at a 46%
premium to its Monday closing price. Shares of Art Technology,
which develops on-demand and e-commerce software applications,
rallied about 45% as the deal was announced before the bell.
Also, Oracle was set to go to federal court in Oakland, Calif.,
to begin the process of determining damages sought from SAP (SAP)
in a case of intellectual-property theft committed by a former SAP
subsidiary.
Meanwhile, video-game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. (ERTS)
shares rose 10 cents to $15.90 before the release of the company's
second-quarter results, due out after the close of regular U.S.
trading.
Ahead of the results, Electronic Arts announced a five-year deal
with Facebook.
Rackspace Hosting Inc. (RAX) shares pulled back from their high
point but remained nearly 3% higher at $26.06. Rackspace's shares
had climbed as much as 7.5% as speculation mounted that Dell Inc.
(DELL) could be considering an acquisition of the
cloud-and-managed-hosting technology company.
Instead, Dell said it would acquire privately held software
developer Boomi for an undisclosed amount. Dell's shares traded
fractionally higher.
Gains also came from Apple Inc. (AAPL), Google Inc. (GOOG) and
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT).
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose 20 points to 2,525, while
both the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) and the Morgan
Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) added nearly 1%.
Tuesday's decliners included Hutchinson Technology Inc. (HTCH),
which makes suspension assemblies for hard-disk drives.
Shares of Hutchinson fell nearly 7% to $3.19 following a
disappointing earnings report for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010
and forecast. Analyst Mark Miller of Noble Financial Group cut his
rating on Hutchinson to sell from hold.