NEW YORK -- Technology shares steadied today after two sessions of heavy selling, but the Dow Jones industrial average sagged again as investors grew more defensive in the aftermath of Monday's first close above 9,000. Dow drops 65
The Dow finished 65.02 points lower to close at 8,891.48 after sliding nearly 95 points earlier in the session, extending yesterday's 76-point drop. Even with the two-day slide, the Dow is still up nearly 1,000 points, or more than 12 percent, in 1998.
Decliners led advancers by a 4-to-3 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,291 up, 1,712 down and 509 unchanged. NYSE volume was 612.01 million shares vs. 664.13 million yesterday.
Broad-market indicators were mixed, with the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index posting a slim gain despite a weak first-quarter report from chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 7.90 to 1,101.65, and the NYSE composite index fell 4.07 to 573.68. The Nasdaq composite index rose 8.30 to 1,807.01 after sliding more than 55 points during the prior two sessions. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 0.18 to 475.33, and the small-company dominated American Stock Exchange composite index rose 1.85 to 737.50.
The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond fell 21/32 point, or $6.56 per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon, while its yield rose to 5.89 percent, up from 5.84 percent last yesterday.
After yesterday's close, AMD reported a bigger-than-expected loss of nearly $56 million. Today, AMD's shares slid more than 10 percent in heavy trading on the New York Stock Exchange.