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Dow falls 67
Associated PressNEW YORK -- Stocks slipped for the second day in a row today as an early onset of summer doldrums and nervousness about the Fed's meeting next week quashed investor enthusiasm. Technology shares started the day higher but soon fell as profit-taking continued following Friday's modest rally. The tech slump spread to other sectors of the market.
The Nasdaq composite index closed down 84.37 at 3,585.01 while the Dow Jones industrial average fell 66.88 to 10,536.75. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 12.03 to 1,412.14, the New York Stock Exchange composite index dropped 4.01 to 636.29, the American Stock Exchange composite index lost 1.88 to 924.22 and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 9.22 to 490.86. Decliners outnumbered advancers by a 5-to-4 margin on the NYSE, with 1,576 down, 1,287 up and 526 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 898.33 million shares vs. 779.45 million yesterday. The 30-year Treasury bond yield rose 5 basis points to 6.24 percent, its highest level since mid-February, as its price dropped 22/32 to 100 5/32.
Hewlett-Packard Co., Microsoft Corp., Intel Corp. and Applied Materials Inc. all fell. Cisco Systems Inc. had been down for most of the day following a negative article in Barron's magazine, but recovered later in the session to finish unchanged. Bucking the downtrend in tech stocks, shares of 3Com Corp. rose sharply after the maker of computer network equipment said it would complete the spinoff of Palm Inc. several months ahead of schedule. Shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. rose after the leading retailer announced earnings that beat analysts' estimates.