Wall Street slides, but tech strength helps avert a big loss

STAN CHOE

AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - Most of Wall Street stumbled Thursday, but yet another rise for big technology stocks helped keep the market's losses in check.

The S&P 500 dropped 12.22 points, or 0.4%, to 3,246.22, with nearly three out of four stocks in the index falling. Among the hardest-hit were oil producers, banks and other companies that most need the economy to pull out of its recession. Treasury yields also sank in a sign of increased pessimism about the economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 225.92 points, or 0.9%, to 26,313.65. Earlier in the morning, though, t...