Biz Break: Apple stock rises after cheaper iPhone confirmed; Tesla, Facebook ...

Posted: 07/29/2013 03:08:12 PM PDT

Updated: 07/29/2013 03:38:45 PM PDT

The Lead: Apple stock gains after human rights group confirms cheaper iPhone

Apple stock climbed despite overall declines Monday on Wall Street, as a report outlining mistreatment of employees at a factory working on Apple products confirmed that the Cupertino tech giant is working on a cheaper iPhone that could help boost its sagging market share.

"We will investigate these new claims thoroughly, ensure that corrective actions are taken where needed and report any violations of our code of conduct. We will not tolerate deviations from our code," Apple's statement read.

Investors seemed to focus on the fact that the undercover workers were putting together an iPhone with a plastic case, instead of the metal body Apple uses for its current smartphones. Analysts and investors have been clamoring for Apple to release a lower-priced iPhone to help its market share in countries such as China, and the group's revelation seemed to validate earlier reports that Apple was planning plastic iPhones in multiple colors for a possible fall release.

"Consumers will get to vote with their wallets if it's that much of a concern, but they're not necessarily voting with their wallets right now," BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis succinctly summarized the prevailing view to Bloomberg News.

Apple shares gained 1.5 percent to $447.79 as the main Wall Street indexes declined, despite other news surrounding the company not leaning to the positive. Bob Mansfield left Apple's executive team to join CEO Tim Cook's "Special projects" team, costing Apple a leader who helped develop devices like the MacBook Air laptop. The company also is less than a week away from a deadline for President Barack Obama's administration to rescind a U.S. import ban on certain models of Apple devices stemming from a patent fight with Samsung. Apple recently gained support in that fight from BSA, a lobbying organization that is backed most prominently by Microsoft, Intel ( INTC) and Oracle ( ORCL).

SV150 market report: Tesla, Facebook hit new highs as SV150 gains slightly

While the three main Wall Street indexes declined Monday at the beginning of a busy week, the SV150 index of Silicon Valley's largest technology companies managed a gain thanks to Apple's strong showing and new high prices established by Tesla and Facebook.

Tesla reached all-time intraday and closing highs Monday, rising as high as $135.37 before closing with a 4 percent gain at $134.62 as the Palo Alto electric-car maker looks to break into the Chinese market. Storied German car manufacturer BMW seemed to validate Tesla's all-electric ambitions Monday with the introduction of an all-electric competitor, though one with a much smaller range than Tesla's Model S.

Those strong gains helped offset slighter losses from some of Silicon Valley's other big tech names. Google ( GOOG) dropped 0.4 percent to $882.27 after relaunching stand-alone Zagat apps with no subscription fees for nine cities, including San Francisco; Yahoo ( YHOO) fell 0.6 percent to $27.93 amid reports of yet another planned acquisition; and Hewlett-Packard ( HPQ) dropped 1.2 percent to $25.67.

Down: LinkedIn, Advanced Micro Devices, Electronic Arts ( ERTS), Pandora, HP, NetApp, eBay ( EBAY), Adobe ( ADBE), Gilead, Symantec, Applied Materials, Cisco ( CSCO), Yahoo, Intuit ( INTU), Netflix ( NFLX), Google

The SV150 index of Silicon Valley's largest tech companies: Up 0.77, or 0.06 percent, to 1276

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index: Down 14.02, or 0.39 percent, to 3,599.14

The blue chip Dow Jones industrial average: Down 36.86, or 0.24 percent, to 15,521.97

And the widely watched Standard & Poor's 500 index: Down 6.32, or 0.37 percent, to 1,685.33

Check in weekday afternoons for the 60-Second Business Break, a summary of news from Mercury News staff writers, http://mustofseason.blogspot.com/, Bloomberg News and other wire services. Contact Jeremy C. Owens at 408-920-5876; follow him at Twitter.com/mercbizbreak.