An Oracledowngrade and a Yahooreorganization weighed on the tech sector Wednesday.
Oracle was the most active stock on the Nasdaq, falling 5% after Lehman Brothers told investors to take profits ahead of the company’s Dec. 18 earnings report. Analyst Israel Hernandez said he expects Oracle’s database results to disappoint.
Yahoo shares, meanwhile, lost 2% after investors were unimpressed by a management shakeup.
Also weighing on techs was disappointing earnings news from Novell, Novellusand InterDigital.
GoAmericasurged 38% on a new video offering.
Docucorpsoared 30% on a buyout.
Optiumand Versantjumped on their results.
SonicWallslid 11% on a downgrade.
The Nasdaq slipped 6 to 2445, the S&P 500 gave back 2 to 1412, and the Dow lost 22 to 12,309. Volume declined to 2.63 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.96 billion on the Nasdaq. Decliners led 18-15 on the NYSE, and 16-16 on the Nasdaq. Downside volume was 55% on the NYSE, and 57% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 349-12 on the NYSE, and 158-34 on the Nasdaq.