Good news from Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) and AMD (NYSE: AMD) couldn’t overcome another drubbing in the financial sector on Tuesday.
Intel edged higher after saying its quarter remains on track, and AMD gained 2 percent after releasing a new graphics card.
The news helped the chip sector (PHI: SOX) finish with its seventh straight gain, but the rest of the market got slammed by concerns about the health of JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and UBS (NYSE: UBS).
Chip investors will try again on Wednesday, as nVidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) both gained after the close despite posting mixed quarterly results. nVidia boosted its share buyback, while AMAT issued an upbeat outlook.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Sun (NASDAQ: JAVA) were other gainers in Tuesday’s trading session, as large-cap tech stocks weathered the day’s sell-off well.
Nuance (NASDAQ: NUAN) and ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW) fell on their results, and Sonus (NASDAQ: SONS) tumbled 17 percent after lowering its second-half outlook.
The NASDAQ lost 9 to 2430, the S&P fell 15 to 1289, and the Dow tumbled 139 to 11,642. Volume declined to 4.71 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.15 billion on the NASDAQ. Decliners led by a 22-11 margin on the NYSE, and 16-12 on the NASDAQ. Downside volume was 71 percent on the NYSE, and 48 percent on the NASDAQ. New highs-new lows were 44-97 on the NYSE, and 73-103 on the NASDAQ.