Stock market sinks as tech sector slumps

A slump in Internet and other technology stocks pulled the broader market lower Friday, as traders turned on the same companies they flocked to earlier this year. Google, Netflix and other pillars of the Internet economy took a beating.

It was a bad day in an otherwise decent week. The Standard & Poor's 500 index ended the week slightly higher.

Mixed signals in the government's monthly jobs report gave investors little direction. U.S. employers added more workers to their payrolls last month, but the unemployment rate remained at 6.7 percent.

The jobs report wasn't the culprit sending the market down, said Uri Landesman, president of the hedge fund Platinum Management. It was likely the "momentum" traders, he said, people who chased highflying stocks and are having a change of heart.

Traders "took a look at some of these highflying Internet companies and said, 'How can I justify these prices?' " he said.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index plunged 2.60 percent to close at 4,127.73, its biggest one-day drop since February.

The S&P 500 index fell 1.25 percent to 1,865.09. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 159.84 points to 16,412.71.-- AP