TECH STOCKS: Winning Streak Comes To An EndTECH STOCKS: Winning Streak Comes To An End

The stock market's five-day winning streak came to an abrupt end Wednesday. Investors opted to take profits, perhaps seeing no more upside to stocks before this month's third-quarter earnings reports, causing all of our indexes to slump.

Yahoo's stock fell 14 cents, or 0.4%, during the day, but rose sharply in after-hours trading after the company reported a big gain in net profit for its recently completed third quarter. The Internet media company reported earnings of $65.3 million, or 10 cents per share, up from $28.9 million, or 5 cents per share, in the same period last year.

SAP said it expects to report better-than-expected third-quarter results, news that boosted its stock more than 14%. Archrival Oracle's stock rose more than 3.5%. But other big-ticket technology stocks, including Microsoft and Intel, finished lower.

The Nasdaq-100 tracking stock closed at $34.39, down 26 cents, or 0.8%. The stock's trading volume was moderately sluggish with just under 71 million shares changing hands.

Our information 100 fell 0.06 points, or 0.02%, to close at 296.99, while the Nasdaq index fell 14.07 points, or 0.7%, to finish at 1,893.78. The Dow fell 23.71 points, or 0.3%, to close at 9,630.90, while the S&P 500 fell 5.47 points, or 0.5%, to end the day at 1,033.78.