Taiwan's Acer, No. 3 global computer maker, last week halved its revenue growth forecast for the current year to about 5%. The company's worsening problems confirmed reports from market research firms IDC and Gartner that PC shipments slowed in Q2. And Citigroup said in a report that notebook PC shipments will fall in late '12 and early '13 as Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG) and Amazon (AMZN) roll out lower-cost tablets. Apple shares rose 1% to 604.97. Google shares rose 1.1% to 576.52, and Amazon rose 1.4% to 218.39.
Asian stocks rose on Wednesday following a positive lead from Wall Street, with Japan's Nikkei reaching a fresh …