NEW YORK -- Stocks fell modestly today in sluggish trading amid growing worries about technology sector profits and potential market jolts from Friday's key employment report. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 42.49 points to close at 7,269.66. Dow falls 42
Decliners led advancers by a 7-to-6 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,178 up, 1,363 down and 820 unchanged. NYSE volume was 466.69 million shares vs. 526.62 million yesterday.
The Standard & Poor's 500 list fell 5.37 to 840.11, and the NYSE index dropped 2.18 to 440.18, pulling back from yesterday's record close. The Nasdaq index fell 5.24 to 1,379.67, and the American Stock Exchange index lost 1.29 to 607.73.
Big-name technology shares, besieged by a series of gloomy profit forecasts that began with Friday's warning from Intel Corp., started the day higher, but faltered in the afternoon amid rumors that Gateway 2000 Inc. is set to announce that computer sales have been weak this quarter.
With most investors looking ahead to Friday's employment report on payroll and wage levels -- a major factor behind inflation -- trading was fairly hesitant.
There was limited reaction to this morning's news that factory orders rebounded a bigger-than-expected 1.2 percent in April. The data compounded concerns over a report two days ago showing that manufacturing activity was surprisingly robust last month.
Investors have been counting on a moderating trend in the economy to temper inflationary pressures and keep the Federal Reserve from slowing things down with another increase in the central bank's lending rates.