Wall Street dives as tech leads sell-off

U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday, Retuers reports, led by losses in technology after brokerage downgrades of Intel (INTC.O) and other major companies amid worries about third-quarter U.S. earnings. Shares of Intel, the world's largest semiconductor maker, lost 2.7 percent to $21.91 after negative reports by at least two brokerages. Robert W. Baird & Co cut its price target for Intel, citing weak demand for notebooks. The news ignited a bit of selling sentiment across the board in large-cap technology shares, including Apple, which has been under pressure in recent weeks. Michael James, senior trader at Wedbush Morgan in Los Angeles, points to Apple's relative underperformance in recent weeks as the main cause of the decline in tech stocks. "Since Apple is 20 percent of the Nasdaq, there's a spillover in tech stocks in general. The Intel downgrade and the semiconductor stock performance have made people cautious," James said...... Read on at http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/09/us-markets-stocks-idUSBRE89708R20121009