Research In Motion, FB gains highlight tech action - MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) â€" Research In Motion rallied on Friday after the device maker turned in better-than-expected sales for its BlackBerry smartphones, while Facebook stock also rose after the social media giant unveiled a new e-commerce feature.

RIM (US:RIMM) shares jumped 5% to close at $7.50, fighting back from a 22% loss in the past three months. See story about RIMM’s surprise boost.

Chief Executive Thorsten Heins said Friday the handheld device maker will first release a new touch screen version when its new BlackBerry 10 device goes on sale in the first quarter of 2013.

Heins said in an interview on CNBC-TV that the company will also put out its traditional keyboard version, but its focus on the touch screen will help attract customers who use personal devices at work.

“The market will be excited about the new BlackBerry 10,” Heins said.

While he acknowledged that the company has lost market share in the U.S., he said Research In Motion is seeing traction in the Middle East and South Africa.

Also on the move, shares of Facebook Inc. (US:FB) rose nearly 7% to close at $21.66 after the company introduced a new e-commerce feature.

The Menlo Park, Calif. company also integrated its service with Dropbox, the San Francisco file-sharing service.

The tech sector also got a lift from shares of Cisco Systems Inc. (US:CSCO) which were up 1.6% to close at $19.09, the best performer on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (US:DJIA). 

Shares of Micron Technology Inc. (US:MU) slipped a fraction to close at $5.98 after the chip maker posted loss. While the company’s results fell below expectations, Wedbush analyst Betsy Van Hees argued: “We don’t believe the miss was as bad as feared.”

“We think with all the near-term bad news now out on the table for DRAM, favorable seasonal trends for NAND, and a better supply/demand environment ahead for DRAM driven by industry supply cuts and consolidation that the stock has bottomed,” she said, referring to segments of the memory chip market where Micron is a major competitor.

But the broader market was in the red, with the Dow down 49 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index (US:COMP) also shed a fraction to close at 3,116, ending the week with a 2% loss.

The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (US:MSH) and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (US:SOX) were each down a fraction. See: U.S. stocks drop in last session of quarter.

Shares of Apple Inc. (US:AAPL) were down 2% to close at $667.11. In a letter to customers, Chief Executive Tim Cook apologized for the glitches in its new map apps.

“We strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers,” Cook said in the letter on Apple’s Web site. “With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers.”