MARKET CLOSE: Antsy investors unload tech stocks

Technology stocks were roughed up Wednesday as investors mulled over the likely outcome of the still undecided presidential election. The Nasdaq composite plunged 184 points to finish at 3,232.06.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 45 points to close at 10,907.06.

"It's a wait-and-see story," said Michelle Clayman, chief investment officer at New Amsterdam Partners LLC. "I don't think anyone is going to want to make large bets out of the ordinary without an idea of how things are going to shake out."

While the recount of the Florida votes remains an unknown, investors knew they didn't want any part of Broadcom (BRCM) shares Wednesday as the communications-chip maker fell $24.69 to $151.81, partly because of inventory concerns from Cisco Systems.

Cisco (CSCO) shares shed $4.63 to $52.13 while fellow network-equipment makers Nortel Networks (NT) and Lucent Technologies (LU) slid 69 cents and 6 cents a share, respectively.

Yahoo! (YHOO) dropped $3.50 to $65 while America Online (AOL) and Amazon.com (AMZN) lost $1.31 and $3.06 a share, respectively. eBay (EBAY) fell $5.06 to $51.63 and CMGI (CMGI) shed $1.88 to $21.81.

NetCreations, Inc. (Nasdaq: NTCR) met reduced analyst estimates for the third quarter but warned that the dot-com slowdown would affect results for the fourth quarter and 2001. Its shares slid 44 cents to $7.91.

Shares of Manugistics Group (MANU) plunged $20 to $110 on the news that it will offer a two-for-one split of the company's common stock.

Microsoft (MSFT) lost $1.06 to $69.44 even though Lehman Brothers boosted its 12-month price target. Oracle (ORCL) clipped $1.75 to $24.81 and Sun Microsystems (SUNW) shed $10.94 to $100.50.

Winstar Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:WCII) shot up $3.13 to $25.50 after it reported third-quarter earnings that beat expectations and announced more than $1 billion in additional financing.

Among widely held PC stocks, Dell (DELL) fell $2.25 to $30.31; Gateway (GTW) lost $3.36 to $48; Apple Computer (AAPL) clipped $1.25 to $20.06 and Compaq Computer (CPQ) closed off $1.93 to $29.35.

Intel (INTC) lost $3.50 to $42.69 while Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and IBM (IBM) closed off 94 cents and $2.13 a share, respectively.