Wall St ends lower as tech stocks weigh

Wall Street declined for a second straight session on Wednesday as the technology sector fell on disappointing results from giants including Apple. Apple shares slumped 4.3 per cent to $125.14. The S&P technology sector fell 1.6 per cent. Microsoft fell 3.7 per cent. Yahoo shed 1.2 per cent at $39.24. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 68.25 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 17,851.04, the S&P 500 lost 5.06 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 2,114.15 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 36.35 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 5,171.77. NYSE decliners outnumbered advancers 1,791 to 1,283, for a 1.40-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, 1,437 issues fell and 1,339 advanced for a 1.07-to-1 ratio favoring decliners. The S&P 500 posted 34 new 52-week highs and 41 lows; the Nasdaq recorded 102 new highs and 140 lows. About 6.8 billion shares traded on US exchanges, slightly above the average volume so far this month, according to Reuters.