By Rex Crum
Tech stocks showed no signs of coming out of their slump
Wednesday as the sector appeared headed for another day of losses,
due primarily to broad-market reaction to the Federal Reserve's
latest take on the U.S. economy and ahead of Cisco Systems Inc.'s
earnings report.
Cisco was among the decliners, falling 78 cents a share, or more
than 3%, to $23.53 ahead of the networking giant's quarterly
earnings report, due after the market close.
The sector suffered at the hands of the overall market, which
retreated in the wake of the Fed's downgrade of its economic
outlook Tuesday. Signs of a rising trade deficit and slowing
economic growth in China also added to the day's negativity.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) failed to put on the brakes,
falling almost 70 points, or 3%, to 2,207, while the Philadelphia
Semiconductor Index (SOX) gave up 4.7%, and the Morgan Stanley High
Tech 35 Index (MSH) was off by 3.2%.
Investors found little to get excited about in tech stocks,
driving down every major sector leader.
Among the decliners were Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), down almost
3%; Apple Inc. (AAPL), which fell 3.6%; Dell Inc. (DELL), down by
more than 4%; Broadcom Corp. (BRCM), down more than 7%; and Seagate
Technology (STX), which fell 4%.