SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) � Tech stocks closed out an upbeat week with broad gains Friday, but enthusiasm was muted late in the day following the announcement that Micron Technology Inc. Chief Executive Steve Appleton died in a plane crash.
Appleton, 51, died when the small plane he was piloting crashed at Boise Airport. Appleton was the only person on the plane and there were no injuries on the ground.
Micron MU �, one of the world�s largest makers of memory chips, had trading in its shares halted after word of Appleton�s death. The stock didn�t begin trading again, and finished the day up almost 3%, at $7.95 a share. Read more about Appleton and Micron.
Before the market opened, the Labor Department said the U.S. economy added 243,000 jobs in January, bringing the nation�s unemployment rate down to 8.3%. The increase surpassed the expectations of many economists. Read more about the drop in the U.S. unemployment rate.
/quotes/zigman/123127 COMP 2,866.19, -21.79, -0.75%
Investors reacted positively to the data and helped send the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index COMP �up more almost 46 points to close at 2,905, it highest closing point in more than a decade.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index SOX �and the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index MSH �each rose nearly 2%.
Zynga Inc. ZNGA was among the advancers, as the online video game company�s shares rose 8% to close at $13.40 and build on the previous day�s gains. Zynga is seen as benefitting from its business role with Facebook Inc. in the wake of Facebook filing for a $5 billion initial public stock offering. Read more about the Facebook "halo effect" and its effects on Zynga.
Click to Play Facebook, Zynga: Sharing isn't easyThe symbiotic relationship between Facebook and Zynga is creating riches for both companies, but their codependency also raises questions.
Optical networking company Infinera Corp. INFN �saw its shares climb by $1.07, or more than 14%, to $8.38 after it reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results late Thursday. J.P. Morgan analyst Rod Hall also raised his rating on Infinera to neutral from underweight on Friday.
Video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. TTWO �rose 48 cents a share, or 3%, to $16.20. Late Thursday, Take-Two reported a drop in its fiscal third-quarter and cut its forecast for its full fiscal year, mostly due to its plans to push back the release of its �Max Payne 3� game title from March until May 15.
NetSuite Inc. N �shares also had a good day, climbing $3.37, or 7.6%, to $47.41. The business-software company gave an upbeat quarterly report and outlook late Thursday.
Gains also came from NetApp Inc. NTAP , Intel Corp. INTC , Apple Inc. AAPL �and Microsoft Corp. MSFT .�
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