NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Stocks tumbled at the open Wednesday, led by technology issues, as disappointing earnings from Intel and Yahoo! sparked worries about corporate earnings.

Rising oil prices added to the concerns.

The Nasdaq composite (down 24.94 to 2,277.75, Charts) sank about 1.6 percent at the open, with chip and Internet stocks hit the hardest, though it later recovered some ground and was off about 0.7 percent 50 minutes into the session.

The Dow Jones industrial average (down 39.78 to 10,856.54, Charts) and the S&P 500 (down 3.32 to 1,279.61, Charts) index bounced back as well, with both off only about 0.1 percent.

A pair of big tech companies reported results after the close of trade Wednesday that disappointed many investors on Wall Street.

Intel (down $2.70 to $22.82, Research), the world's biggest maker of computer chips, reported higher quarterly earnings and revenue though the numbers missed analysts' forecasts. Following the news, a slew of brokerages downgraded the stock, including Piper Jaffray and Citigroup.

The stock slumped more than 10 percent in the early going.

A variety of other chip stocks fell, too, sending the Philadelphia Semiconductor (up 0.05 to 518.49, Charts) index, or the SOX, down 1.8 percent.

Yahoo! (down $4.50 to $35.61, Research) also tumbled more than 10 percent after reporting quarterly earnings late Tuesday that missed forecasts. The company also issued a first-quarter outlook that was short of estimates.

That weighed on other Web stocks, with the Goldman Sachs Internet (Charts) index losing 2.5 percent.

IBM (up $1.38 to $84.38, Research) reported higher quarterly earnings on lower quarterly revenue after the close Wednesday. The stock had slipped in after-hours trading Tuesday night, but recovered in Wednesday morning trading.

Also a factor in the morning: ongoing worries about higher oil prices and fears about Iran's nuclear program threatening supplies.

U.S. light crude oil for February delivery gained 19 cents to $66.50 a barrel in electronic trading after jumping almost 4 percent Tuesday.

Treasury prices gained, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 4.32 percent from 4.33 percent late Tuesday. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

In global trade, Tokyo stocks tumbled for a second straight session, with the market ending its session early due to a slew of sell orders. European markets slumped at midday.

That pressured the dollar, which fell versus the euro and yen.

COMEX gold for February delivery fell $6.50 to $547.80 an ounce.

In other news, a report showed a surprise drop in consumer prices in December. But prices excluding the volatile food and energy components edged higher, in line with economists' estimates.