Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer on Wednesday dismissed the possibility of buying out Yahoo, sending Yahoo shares diving by 14 percent.

"Let me be clear," Ballmer said at Microsoft's annual shareholder meeting. "We are done with all acquisition discussions with Yahoo."

Ballmer's remarks were seen as a response to this week's announced resignation by Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang who decided to step down due to Yahoo shareholders' resentment over his poor handling of Microsoft's buyout attempt.

Yang's announced resignation pushed Yahoo shares up on Tuesday because investors hoped it meant a deal with Microsoft would now be more likely.

But Ballmer said Microsoft and Yahoo are not currently talking about a search deal. He added however that his company would still be "very open" on a collaboration on Internet search.

Some analysts have interpreted Ballmer's public comments about a Yahoo buyout as negotiating posturing, and suspect Microsoft might still want to grab Yahoo at a low price, in hopes of improving their joint position in on-line search and advertising.

Yahoo turned down a 47.5-billion-U.S.-dollar takeover offer from Microsoft in May, and later rejected Microsoft's bid to buy only its search engine. Ballmer has said repeatedly of late that the buyout remains off the table, though a search-related deal is possible.

On Wednesday, Yahoo shares were down US$1.67, or 14.5 percent, at US$9.88 in afternoon trading, well below the US$33 per share that Microsoft offered in May. Microsoft shares tumbled 60 cents, or 3.1 percent, to US$19.02.

(Xinhua News Agency November 20, 2008)