Sector Snap: Video game cos. rise after sales data

NPD estimated May sales of $1.12 billion for the sector. Hardware sales rose 34 percent to $428.6 million, while software sales climbed 41 percent to $536.9 million, NPD said.

Take-Two Interactive Corp.'s "Grand Theft Auto IV" remained the top selling video game, with 871,300 units sold in May after its release the previous month. Nevertheless, Take-Two shares slipped 17 cents to $26.39 in afternoon trading.

Elsewhere among video game publishers, Electronic Arts rose 71 cents to $46.70 and THQ Inc. climbed 13 cents to $21.

"Guitar Hero" publisher Activision Inc., which is being purchased by Vivendi SA, added 13 cents to $34.01.

NPD reported that Nintendo Co.'s Wii console was the top-selling hardware unit in May, with 675,100 units sold. Nintendo also had the second most popular hardware item, the handheld DS, which sold 452,600 units.

Trailing were Sony Corp.'s Playstation 3 and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360, selling 208,700 units and 186,600 units, respectively.

American Depositary Shares of Japan's Sony rose 49 cents to $48.31, while Microsoft stock climbed 60 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $28.84.

Shares of video game retailer GameStop Corp. rose $1.44, or 3.4 percent, to $44.36.

It was a solid day for the markets, with all the major indexes in positive territory.