The Dow's 2 Biggest Losers

The technology sector provided the three biggest percentage losers in the Dow index (INDEX: ^DJI) , which gained 0.6% today. The guilty three were International Business Machines, Cisco Systems (NAS: CSCO) and Intel (NAS: INTC) . Not surprisingly, tech was also the worst-performing sector in the S&P 500 (INDEX: ^GSPC) .

For Cisco, even news that the company has promoted two senior executives to the role of 'president' --reported after the close of the regular session during which shares were down 0.2% --provided no lift to the stock in after hours. The dual promotions appear to be a sharpening of the network equipment maker's succession strategy, despite CEO John Chambers' assurance in an interview that "It's not a two-horse race at all, and it's not a race."

Perhaps the market is concerned with the risks associated with any change in the C-suite. After all, as our Foolish technology analyst wrote in our premium report on Cisco: "Whether Cisco can make good on its market position and considerable resources is a function of how well management performs, and no one on Cisco's team matters more than CEO John Chambers." To understand the opportunity Cisco represents, and receive a full year of updates, click here to order your premium report now.

Meanwhile, chipmaker Intel was the worst-performing Dow stock, losing 0.4%. I suspect that the loss was linked to the news, first reported after market hours on Wednesday, that chip manufacturing equipment producer Applied Materials will cut 6% to 9% of its global workforce in response to sluggish demand. Applied Materials counts Intel among its customers.

The article The Dow's 2 Biggest Losers originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributorAlex Dumortierholds no position in any company mentioned.Click hereto see his holdings and a short bio; you can follow him@longrunreturns. The Motley Fool owns shares of Cisco Systems, and Intel.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of Intel.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended creating a synthetic long position in International Business Machines. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days.

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