Tech Concerns Spread Across Markets
A 3.4% drop for Boeing (BA) after a Wachovia downgrade spearheaded the Dow’s 0.70% drop to 12,477 on Monday.
Concerns over forthcoming earnings reports deflated tech stocks, which appear to be experiencing a natural pullback after outperforming all other sectors month-to-date. There are concerns, however, regarding chip maker AMD and software giant Microsoft, both of which are expected to report sub-par results. In AMD’s case, increased quality has led to increased competition from rival Intel. For Miscrosoft, the problems are internal, as the company has failed to deliver its forthcoming Vista operating system on numerous occasions.
Apple, which lost almost 2% on the day, has been slumping since hitting a 52-week high of 97.80 on January 10, the day after it reinvented the phone. Since that time the stock has lost over 11.25%, and closed at 86.79.
