Tech prices continue downward turn

Earnings season brought renewed pessimism for tech investors across the globe.

Although the ongoing war against terrorism proved a distraction from miserable corporate results at the beginning of the week, the continued stream of disappointments dragged global equities down as the week drew to a close.

Having stubbornly defied the inevitable for part of the week, the Nasdaq closed on 1652.7, down 2.9%.

After all was said and done the Dow also succumbed to the bears, shedding 2.6% to close on 9163.2. On this side of the Atlantic the FTSE slumped to close on 5116, down almost 1%.

On the bright side, at least Irish tech stocks have performed better of late. The Irish Technology Share Index (ITSI) defied the broader indices to gain 5.7%, closing for the week on 6513.1. This week's performance was inspired by positive earnings news from some of the ITSI's highest profile stocks.

Parthus, SmartForce and IONA announced their quarterly results this week. Of these, Parthus' were undoubtedly the best received, as the chip designer surged almost 15%, closing for the week on $5.50. Encouraging revenue figures plus an upbeat forecast impressed the markets, and Parthus expects to achieve breakeven by mid-2002.

IONA's Q3 results also provided some upside for the ITSI, as IONA climbed over 8% on the Nasdaq to close on $11.40. However, the markets were less convinced by SmartForce's results, and the e-learning company gained over ½% to close on $19.30. This gain was overshadowed by SmartForce's smaller Irish peers, Riverdeep and Transware. While Transware overcame a sluggish London market to surge 20%, Riverdeep continued its recent upward trend to gain just over 6%.

The ITSI's best performer this week was the Horizon Technologies Group. The IT services company soared over 30% to close in London on Stg£48.5, ignoring worrying signs from peers Cap Gemini and CMG.

Meanwhile, a contract win to automate Brother International Corporation's web-based and call-centre payment transactions contributed to a fruitful week for Trintech's investors. Trintech surged over 19% to close on the Nasdaq on $1.85.

Looking forward, with no end to the stream of disappointing earnings news in sight, investors will be hoping that the markets can retain some of this week's stubbornness.