By Rex Crum, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks slumped in early trading Tuesday as the sector joined in a broad market retreat leading up to the next big round of earnings reports.

Among tech bellwethers, Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) fell 1.3%, to $40.98, and losses also came from Google Inc. (GOOGL), Netflix Inc. (NFLX) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT).

Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) shares were off by 2%, at $36.15, a day after the tech giant said it would split into two public companies.

Outerwall Inc. (OUTR), the parent company of DVD-rental kiosk operator Redbox, shed 13 cents a share to trade at $56.46. The company said it's pulling the plug on its Redbox Instant video-streaming service Tuesday night.

GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (GTAT) was up 18% at 93 cents a share, one day after the supplier of sapphire products to Apple Inc. (AAPL) and other companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. On Monday, GT Advanced share plunged 90%.

The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) fell 29 points to 4,425 and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) was off by almost 1%.

(Read more about the day's market activity in Market Snapshot http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-futures-fall-with-investors-expected-to-book-more-profits-2014-10-07.).

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