Japan Toll on Tech Easing

Updated to reflect a Apple and Cisco stocks' move off the days lows.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The tech sector bounced off morning lows as selling pressure eased slightly Tuesday amid Japan's post-quake crisis.

Fearing a lengthy disruption to Japan's manufacturing operations and the potential for extensive fallout from the crippled nuclear reactors, investors were selling stocks early Tuesday.

The Nasdaq opened down 2.5% as big names like Apple(AAPL), Qualcomm(QCOM) and Cisco(CSCO) all went on a slide. The Nasdaq recovered somewhat but was still down nearly 2% by midday.

Wall Street's selling mood didn't exactly spare some of its darlings.

Apple shares fell 3.5% to $341.21 in early trading, which later moderated to $325.23, down more than 2% at noon, even though the company has not been able to supply enough of its new iPad 2s to meet demand.

Wireless chip shop Qualcomm initially fell 5% and rallied a bit to remain 3% down on concerns that mobile phone sales and production will slow, as Japan struggles with widespread devastation.

The selloff also knocked down networking giants like Cisco, which bounced off a new 52-week low and remained down 2.5% at $17.40. Meanwhile, networking gearmakers Alcatel-Lucent(ALU) and Ericsson(ERIC) had been down 5%, were only down 1% and 4% by midday.

And mobile phone giant Nokia(NOK) hit a new low of $7.73 early Tuesday before recovering somewhat -- to $8.06 -- down 3% at noon.

Even U.S.-focused tech outfits like Verizon(VZ) and AT&T(T) were hit early Tuesday, falling as much as 3% and 2% during the market swoon. But as the pressure softened, the big phone duo were only down 1%

Not all of tech was taking a beating, however. Investors seemed eager to play the non-nuclear option, sending solar stocks up Tuesday. Shares of Ascent Solar(ASTI) were up 10%, while First Solar(FSLR) was up 4% at one point early Tuesday.

--Written by Scott Moritz in New York.

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