Tech Companies Hit By 514-Point Wall Street Landslide

U.S. stocks suffered another steep loss Wednesday, as weak earnings reports and trimmed forecasts dragged the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 500 points.

The Dow closed down 514.45, or 5.69%, at 8,519.21 after losing about 100 points in the last hour of trading. The S&P 500 lost 6.10%, or 58.27 points, to close at 896.78. The tech-loaded Nasdaq fell 4.77%, or 80.93, closing at 1,615.

Globally, stocks fell as Wall Street suffered another landslide day. Technology stocks weren't spared. Tech stock losses reflect a growing acknowledgement that even the most innovative industries are likely to face serious challenges over the next few quarters.

International law firm DLA Piper released results Monday from a survey showing that 66% of technology companies plan to reduce revenue forecasts. Almost 50% of respondents from venture capital companies predicted that the current financial crisis is worse than the tech bubble crash of 2000. And 55% of respondents polled in October said that they believe the stagnant IPO market will not begin to rebound until 2010 or later.

However, DLA Piper said that clean technology is a bright spot while consumers attempt to keep fuel and energy prices low. Respondents also said that they believe the United States will become the leading producer of "leap-frog" technologies in the next 10 years.

That kind of optimism apparently hasn't spread to investors, who saw shares in all sectors of the technology industry slide again Wednesday on a bleak outlook and jitters related to the overall economy.

Companies that produce chips and software were particularly hard hit, and Internet companies like Google suffered as well. Google shares dropped 1.95%, or $7.08, to close at $355.67. Telecommunications and wireless company shares dropped as well, while networking and storage fared better with losses averaging less than 5% on Wednesday.