Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, August 8, 2011. Stocks tumbled on Monday, the first session after rating agency Standard & Poor's cut the top-tier AAA credit rating of the United States, further unnerving already-skittish investors. Reuters

Technology stocks fell moderately Wednesday, only about 3.2 percent, compared to the S&P 500's 4.42 percent downturn to 1,120.76.

Meanwhile, the 30 chip stocks covered in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index lost 2.5 percent after some smaller chip companies announced deteriorating outlooks. The Nasdaq 100 Technology Index fell 3.7 percent, as did the iShares S&P North America Tech Sector Index.

U.S. stocks slid overall amid concern that the European debt crisis is deepening and French banks may be overexposed.

The biggest U.S. tech companies have major European customers and contracts and were not immune. IBM and Hewlett-Packard, the two biggest computer service companies, dropped 5.5 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively. Both computer giants derive as much as 30 percent of sales from Europe.

Dell shares also slipped 5.3 percent.

Apple shares fell 1.5 percent. Still, Apple's closing market capitalization exceeded $337 billion, keeping it ahead of Exxon Mobil's $330.7 billion as the most highly valued U.S. company.

Cisco Systems, the leading provider of Internet gear, fell 2.3 percent to $13.73 after setting a yearly low Tuesday. Cisco was scheduled to report financial results after the close.

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