Tech recovery on horizon

Investors asked to keep the faith

By John Oates • Get more from this author

Posted in Financial News, 19th April 2004 11:56 GMT

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The technology recovery is underway despite recent negative market reaction to financial results from big technology players. Investors believe the upturn is solid but that some have unrealistic expectations of what companies can achieve.

Last week saw solid quarterly results from Intel and IBM but both saw falls in their share prices - even though they hit their targets. Despite this negative market reaction the recovery is go, according to US investors questioned by the Financial Times. The first three months of this year saw a steady decline in the value of the S&P top 500 IT companies.

Kevin Landis, chief investment officer of Firsthand Funds, said: "We expect the recovery to start out modestly and pick up momentum as it grows." Landis said the slow pace of improvement was typical for this point in the recovery.

The mood of the market was also hit by Nokia's profit warning. But other mobile companies like Samsung are still showing growth suggesting Nokia's problems are not a reflection of the whole market. Texas Instruments, which provides chips for mobiles, also showed solid growth. ®