NEW YORK - Stocks turned lower in the final minutes of trading today after a steep decline in Microsoft Corp. set off a broad selloff in technology issues. Dow loses 21.8
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 21.83 points to close at 7,721.14, erasing its 52-point gain from earlier in the session.
Advancers beat decliners by a 6-to-5 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,543 up, 1,289 down and 571 unchanged. NYSE volume was 467.47 million shares vs. 543.35 million Friday.
Broad-market indexes were mostly lower at the end of the trading session, with the biggest decline coming in the Nasdaq composite index which fell as technology stocks weakened.
The Standard & Poor's 500-stock list fell 4.14 at 919.77, and the NYSE composite index fell 0.70 at 482.60. The Nasdaq composite index fell 14.40 to 1,634.93, and the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 2.35 to 674.66.
The Nasdaq drop was spurred by reports that Microsoft's Windows98 software will come out three months later than expected. Prior to that news, Microsoft's stock was already trading lower today on a Barron's report saying the software giant's stock was overvalued and the company may have a hard time dominating the industry in the future.
Other technology stocks, including Intel, Oracle and Cicso Systems, also fell in the afternoon trading.
With no new economic data released today, investors focused on the Microsoft news. But many watched their trades ahead of tomorrow's session, when the government reports on consumer prices for August and the Federal Reserve releases its monthly report on industrial production.