PC Makers Struggling After Wit Soundview Downgrade

Wit Soundview downgraded several PC makers this morning, citing weak October sales and the dangers of price competition amid sluggish demand.

The firm cut its ratings on Apple(AAPL), Dell(DELL) and Intel(INTC) to buy from strong buy.

Shares of Apple were recently unchanged at $18.44, while Dell shares were tumbling 7%, or $1.75, to $23.19 in Nasdaq trading. Shares of Intel, which today introduced its new Pentium 4 chip, were off 1%, or 44 cents, to $41.13 on the Nasdaq.

Gateway(GTW), whose shares were recently falling 10%, or $3.98, to $35.75, had its rating cut to hold from buy.

Other members of the sector were also generally lower this morning. Shares of Hewlett-Packard(HWP) were recently down 0.7%, or 25 cents, to $35.38, on the Big Board, while shares of Sun Microsystems(SUNW) were also in the red at $83.69, down $5.69, or 6.4% in Nasdaq trading. But shares of IBM (IBM) recently gained 0.3%, or 31 cents, to $102.25 in New York Stock Exchange trading. Shares of Compaq(CPQ) were down 77 cents, or 3.1%, to $24.23.

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