Dow trims gain,
ends up 36

NEW YORK -- Stocks rose modestly today as technology shares regained some footing and new signs emerged that the economic pace may be easing enough to avert an inflationary spurt.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 35.63 to 7,305.29. The blue-chip barometer had gained as much as 82 points earlier in the session, moving within 32 points of a new high, but pulled back as investors secured some gains before tomorrow's key report on last month's payroll and wage levels.

Advancers outnumbered decliners by a 3-to-2 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,507 up, 986 down and 857 unchanged. NYSE volume was 452.62 million shares vs. 466.71 million yesterday.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock list rose 3.32 to 843.43, and the NYSE composite index rose 1.46 to 441.64. The Nasdaq composite index rose 10.39 to 1,390.06.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies ended a two-day slump, rising 2.33 to 385.00, its eighth new high in 10 sessions. The American Stock Exchange composite index, which has a large constituency of smaller companies, rose 3.02 to 610.75.

Big-name technology shares have struggled since last Friday, when Intel Corp. jolted the market with a warning that demand for some of its semiconductors has been weak this quarter.

The worries spurred by the Intel warning were aggravated this week by additional pessimistic outlooks from the technology sector and speculation that other computer industry bellwethers are planning to issue similar announcements.

Concerned that tomorrow's employment data will reveal that inflationary forces have intensified, investors found some encouragement in a report showing the number of American workers filing first-time claims for jobless benefits shot up by 19,000 last week.

The Federal Reserve has been worried that continuing strength in the job market will force companies to boost wages as they compete for workers to meet demand and then raise prices to compensate.