Investor snapshot: Quarter's end casts pall on game sector

As the month and the quarter (for many) drew to a close Thursday, most game stocks swung back into negative territory. Electronic Arts (ERTS) shares slid $1.85 to close at $51.78, while shares in Electronics Boutique fell $1.25 to $42.97 in the day's trading.

Take-Two Interactive shares lost $1 to close at $39.10. THQ Inc. (THQI) shares traded 72 cents lower at $28.14, and shares in GameStop Corp. (GME) were down 56 cents to $22.16. Shares in Activision closed 48 cents lower at $14.80. Vivendi Universal (V) shares finished the day at $30.60, 18 cents lower.

On the positive side, shares in Konami (KNM) rose 25 cents to close at $22.35. Jamdat Mobile (JMDT) shares climbed 15 cents to $17.24. Shares in Eidos (EIDSY) traded 9 cents, or 8.3 percent, higher at $1.17 Thursday following news that the ailing game company may be nearing a buyout deal with SCi. Atari (ATAR) shares finished the day 2 cents higher at $3.16.

Overseas, shares in Nintendo climbed 180 yen ($1.68) to 11,700 yen ($108.96) on the Japanese exchange. Ubisoft shares, traded in Paris, rose .11 euros (14 cents) to 30.08 euros ($38.97).

On Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite closed at 1,999.23, 6.44 points lower Thursday. Over the quarter, the tech-based index fell 8.1 percent. MarketWatch attributed those losses to a downturn among Internet stocks, as well as declines in the semiconductor sector.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 37.17 points lower Thursday at 10.503.76 and was down 2.6 percent for the quarter. The S&P500 lost .82 points in the day's trading, declining 2.6 percent for the three-month period that ended March 31.