Tech Down Ahead of Earnings -- Tech Roundup

Shares of tech companies declined ahead of key earnings reports in the sector from Google's Alphabet and others later in the week.

Internet infrastructure maker Cisco Systems agreed to buy cloud-based communications software maker BroadSoft for $1.73 billion, as the business of network infrastructure shifts from a hardware-dominated field to a cloud-and-software business.

China Literature, the online publishing unit of Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings, is planning to sell around $1 billion worth of shares in a Hong Kong initial-public offering.

Sales of Apple's iPhone 8 likely suffered because of its launch alongside the iPhone X, according to market research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, which found the iPhone 8 line represented a far smaller share of overall U.S. phone sales on its debut than the previous generation of Apple phones, as reported earlier.

Seagate Technology shares rose after the hard-disc maker's earnings surpassed some investors' targets. Intel's recent stock-market revival could be close to an end warned analysts at brokerage Morgan Stanley, in a note to clients. Growth in data-center and other business lines has been priced into shares while new growth drivers "will take a long time to pan out," the analysts said.

-Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 23, 2017 16:40 ET (20:40 GMT)