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Cisco gains lift techs, but Facebook slips

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Led by advances from Cisco Systems Inc., the tech sector put in a strong performance Thursday, but Facebook Inc.'s shares tumbled following the expiration of its post-IPO lockup period.

Cisco (CSCO) shares rose 9.6%, to close at $19.02, as the stock put in its best single-day percentage gain since August 2011. The impetus for Cisco's gains was the company reporting a 56% increase in its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, and saying it would raise its quarterly dividend payment by 75%, to 14 cents a share.

Cisco's results also helped the company's stock make up all the ground it lost since its disappointing quarterly report in May.

The results gave investors reason to get behind Cisco, but the company still gave a cautious outlook, saying that U.S. corporate customers remain guarded about their spending plans.

"Cisco said what everyone else has said. [That] the budgets as guided imply an up second-half, but they have limited visibility," said Alex Henderson, of Needham & Co., in a research note.

With Cisco in the lead, other big-name tech stocks also advanced. Gains came from IBM Corp. (IBM) , up 1.2%, to close at $200.84, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) , which rose 2% to $30.78, Intel Corp. (INTC) , up 1% at $26.56, Netflix Inc. (NFLX) , up 1.7% to close at $64.31 and Apple Inc. (AAPL) , which rose almost 1% to $636.34. Read Rex On Techs about the possibility of Apple buying Netflix.

Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) rose 5.5%, to close at $13.81 a share. The New York Post reported that private equity firms KKR and Providence Equity had approached EA about interest in taking the published of the "Madden" video game franchise private.

Coinstar Inc. (CSTR) , the operator of the Redbox DVD-kiosks, climbed 7.6% to end the day at $51.88 as the New York Post also reported that Coinstar was in talks with a private equity firm.

The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP) rose 31 points to close at 3,062, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) and the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) each rose 1.7%.

However, Facebook (FB) was showing no signs of joining in the day's gains.Read more on Facebook.

Facebook shares fell 6.3% to close at $19.87, the first time the social-networker's stock closed below $20 since its initial public offering, in May.

Facebook took a hit as the lockup period for insiders to sell their IPO stock expired, and about 271 million shares of Facebook's stock went on the market. Facebook's shares have fallen almost 50% since the company went public at $38 a share on May 18, and more than 1.3 billion more Facebook shares are expected to gone on the market by the end of year as other lockup deadlines expire.

Along with Facebook, other social-media stocks retreated, as Groupon Inc. (GRPN) fell 6%, to close at $5 a share and Zynga Inc. (ZNGA) was down 2% to end the day at $3.

Agilent Technologies Inc. (A) shares also retreated, giving up more than 8% to close at $37.15 after the technology measurement company filed a weaker-than-expected quarterly report and outlook late Wednesday.