SAN FRANCISCO (AFX) -- Internet stocks and most technology issues gained ground Wednesday as Google Inc. shares found footing a day after a volatile, 7% sell-off.
The Dow Jones Internet Index was up 0.4% to 94.90, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 32.14 points to 2,313.57.
Google found Wednesday footing with a 1% gain to $366. On Tuesday, Google shares fell as much as 14% -- more than $50 a share -- after the company's chief financial officer said at an investor conference that long-term growth rates in the company's search business would inevitably slow.
Regarding its shorter term efforts, data from comScore released Tuesday indicated Google's share in the U.S. search market increased to 41.4%, up from 40% in December, with an 8% bump in search traffic.
Meanwhile, investors are looking for potential stock catalysts as Google's analyst day Thursday.
With Google's market cap up $60 billion since last year's event, Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney expects Google management to garner much greater scrutiny this time around. The analyst anticipates a focus on product development, yet foresees little financial disclosure.
Oppenheimer foresees Google management providing an update on the company's capital spending plans, online advertising expansion and international expansion, among other matters.
Elsewhere in the Net sector, eBay Inc. shares were trading around even at $40. The company's Skype unit has received a subpoena from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. as a part of its civil antitrust suit against Intel Corp. . AMD is seeking documents from Skype Inc. about its decision to use Intel chips for its Skype 2.0 technology used to conduct 10-person conference calls, according to a subpoena dated Feb. 28.
Net bellwethers Amazon.com Inc. , Yahoo Inc. each saw their shares trade lower by less than 1%.
VeriSign Inc. shares were up fractionally at $23.69. In addressing the company's mobile content unit outlook for 2006, Jeffries analyst Katherine Egbert wrote that the declining popularity of the 'Crazy Frog' ringtone in Europe will challenge growth. Egbert has modeled for a 42% decline in the division's revenue this year.
In legal news, The Board of the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) said it has approved a set of agreements settling a dispute between ICANN and VeriSign. ICANN said the settlement includes a new registry agreement relating to the operation of the '.com' registry. The agreement will now move to the Department of Commerce for final approval. The settlement was announced last October.
Among the Net sector's few notable movers, Earthlink Inc. shares gained more than 3.5% to $10.27. This story was supplied by MarketWatch. For further information see www.marketwatch.com.
© 2006 AFX News
