Microsoft reports first ever loss but tech sector holds firm

Microsoft has reported a quarterly net loss of $492m, its first in 26 years as a public company, but it and Google helped ease concerns over the resilience of the tech sector as sales rose despite overall.

At Microsoft, record fourth quarter sales of $18.6bn, up 7% year on year, helped its headline figures ease past analyst forecasts. Its first ever loss, compared with a profit of $5.9bn a year earlier, came as a result of the company deferring revenues expected from its Windows 8 system, and a move to write down the value of its online business. The company's shares rose 2.5% in after-hours trading. Google shares also rose 3.2% after-hours as the company reported net income of $2.79bn on the quarter, up from a year previous and in line with expectations, helped by a 21% rise in revenue...