Tech sector stocks and related exchange traded funds (ETFs) were weighed down by losses from Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) and Yahoo Inc. (NasdaqGS: YHOO).
Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEArca: XLK) was down 0.38%, PowerShares QQQ (NasdaqGM: QQQ) was up 0.05% and iShares Dow Jones U.S. Technology Index Fund (NYSEArca: IYW) was down 0.29%.
HPQ was down 2.24%, and is among the top decliners on the Dow. YHOO was down 2.41%.
Yahoo shares dipped after a deal was struck to compensate for the transfer of ownership of the Alipay payment service, reports Benjamin Pimentel for MarketWatch. The company’s management looked as if they were blindsided by the move.
“Yahoo appears to have become a forced seller of one of its key Asian assets,” said Mark Mahaney, analyst at Citigroup.
The deal is rather vague and it is questionable whether it “puts Yahoo any closer to realizing material value from its holding,” remarked Jason Maynard of Wells Fargo.