NEW YORK -- Stocks fell today, led by a decline in technology stocks after analysts warned that Dell Computer's sales growth may be slowing. Dow off 88.57
At the close on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 88.57 at 9,274.89. The blue-
chip index gained as much as 26 points in early trading before heading lower.
The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 23.90 to 1,230.14, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 83.66 to 2,321.89. That erased much of yesterday's 96-point gain, the biggest one-day climb ever for the Nasdaq.
Decliners led advancers by a 3-to-1 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 2,226 down, 800 up and 499 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 686.16 million shares vs. 796.98 million yesterday.
The NYSE composite index fell 8.28 to 581.46, and the American Stock Exchange composite index dropped 3.89 to 696.12. The Russell 2000 index fell 7.72 to 398.44.
The price of the benchmark 30-
year Treasury bond fell 2 1/16 points, or $20.63 for each $1,000 in face value. The bond's yield, which moves in the opposite direction from price, shot up to 5.42 percent from 5.30 percent at yesterday's quarterly auction. Trading ended at 2 p.m. in observance of the three-day Presidents Day holiday.
U.S. stock markets also will be closed Monday.
It was another volatile session for technology shares, which have made some wide swings this week. On Tuesday, there were huge losses, then they were mostly unchanged Wednesday and soared yesterday. "This is an on-again, off-again market," said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer at First Albany