'Fast Money' Recap: Apple Leads Tech Parade

Tech stocks continued to shine Wednesday in a choppy trading session.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 82.99, or 1.04%, to 7,886.57, while the S&P 500 dropped 6.53, or 0.77%, to 843.55. The Nasdaq edged up 2.27, or 0.77%, to 1,6646.12.

Melissa Lee, the moderator of CNBC's "Fast Money" TV show, said technology stocks continued to break away from the rest of the market, and there was no better evidence of that than Apple (AAPL Quote) which moved higher in after-hours trading on a strong earnings report.

Jim Goldman, CNBC's Silicon Valley bureau chief who listened in on the conference call, said the company said it was the best non-holiday quarter it has ever enjoyed. Particularly impressive was the 36.4% in gross margins and the continued strong sales of Macs to first-time buyers, he said.

Goldman said the company continues to perform well and struck an optimistic tune in its report.

Guy Adami said Apple shares have enjoyed a great run, up 47% for the year, but he said the prudent step here would be to take profits. "I can't go piling on the back of these earnings hoping they've just sand bagged the next quarter," he said.

Karen Finerman said it's hard to get excited about the stock, when it is up so much.

Lee shifted the discuss to bank stocks which led the market lower in the final hour of trading. Tim Seymour said the numbers for Morgan Stanley (MS Quote), which reported a loss, weren't that bad.