The Dow industrials fell 43.71 to 5,587.14. The well-known barometer of big U.S. companies, up nearly 10 percent since the start of the year, has meandered in a narrow range for most of the week with little in the way of economic news to stir the market.

Advancers led decliners by about 11 to 9 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,324 up, 1,070 down and 732 unchanged. Big Board volume totaled 413.01 million shares vs. 368.29 million in the previous session.

"This is mostly about end of quarter window-dressing by portfolio managers," said Dan Ascani, president of Global Market Strategists Inc. of Gainesville, Ga. "The past few quarters we've seen selling into the end of the quarter. The weakness today should be followed by a rally early next week, <P>especially if bonds are stable."

Broad-market indexes were mixed. The NYSE composite was down 1.36 at 346.92. The S&P 500 list fell back 3.44 points to 645.50. The Amex market value index was up 5.23 at 571.38.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite was up a solid 6.54 at 1,101.38 as key industry issues such as Cisco Systems, Microsoft and Intel rose.

Leading technology issues were also stronger on the NYSE. IBM was one of the few decisive winners among the Dow industrials.

Oil and consumer stocks were the weakest in the Dow index, with Exxon, Texaco, Chevron, Philip Morris, McDonald's and Procter & Gamble all retreating.

Bonds rose after several new economic readings indicated more weakness than other recent reports have suggested.