By Rex Crum, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks started out the second quarter on a mostly down note Monday, but eBay Inc. scored one of the sector's few notable gains, in the wake of the online retailer's meeting with financial analysts last week.

EBay (EBAY) rose 4.6%, to $56.66 a share, with many analysts coming away upbeat about the company's prospects following last Thursday's analyst day. It was eBay's first such meeting in two years. U.S. stock markets were closed on Friday.

Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Graham raised his rating on eBay to buy from hold, and increased his price target on the stock to $67 a share from $56. Graham based his views on the likelihood eBay will be able to sustain its growth levels, as well as more options for its PayPal electronics payment business.

"We believe payments growth could surprise [with gains] as PayPal could gain significant share of future blended offline-online payments," Graham said in a research note.

BlackBerry Inc. (RIMM) shares rose 3.6%, to $14.98, as more industry analysts issued positive reports on the smartphone maker following its quarterly results last Thursday.

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) was up 1.6% at $21.22 a share. Late Thursday, Cisco said it would raise its quarterly dividend by 3 cents a share to 17 cents.

Video game retailer GameStop Corp. (GME) rose 5%, to $29.34, also in the wake of its better-than-expected quarterly results last Thursday.

However, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) fell almost 16 points, to 32.51, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) gave up more than 1% as the latest data on U.S. manufacturing levels retreated in March.

Among tech stocks in the red, losses came from Micron Technology Inc. (MU), Oracle Corp. (ORCL), Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN).

Dell Inc. (DELL) was off 5 cents a share at $14.28. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing last Friday, Dell Chief Executive Michael Dell said the company's prospects were bleak if it didn't go through with a $24.4 billion bid to go private.

Intel Corp. (INTC) shares were down almost 2%, at $21.44. JMP Securities analyst Alex Gauna cut his rating on Intel to market perform, or the equivalent of neutral. In a research note, Gauna said he lowered his view on the world's largest semiconductor company on the "discovery of technology roadmap issues that add to an already challenging outlook," and other matters.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-01-13 1104ET