Technology stocks dropped for the fifth straight session yesterday after disappointing forecasts from software providers and chip makers like Lattice Semiconductor. Blue-chips succumbed to the downward pull of DuPont and ExxonMobil.
Questions over the health of Corporate America, as well as continuing worries over the unrest in the Middle East, led to choppy trading through the day.
Lattice Semiconductor lost more than a quarter of its value, while a grim forecast from software provider SeeBeyond Technology lopped more than 50 per cent off its stock price.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 47.19 points, or 0.47 per cent, at 10,089.24.
The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index was down 28.37 points, or 1.61 per cent, at 1,730.31.
Chemical giant DuPont reported lower operating profits amid soft industrial demand. Oil titan ExxonMobil reported sharply lower profit due to a weak refining business and lower crude and natural gas prices.
