NEW YORK -- Stocks lost momentum today, forcing the Dow Jones industrial average to pause in its trek toward 10,000, after several big companies issued disappointing earnings forecasts. Dow slips 21
The Dow fell 21.09 points to close at 9,876.35. The blue-chip index had come within 42 points of 10,000 in early trading before giving up ground.
Broader market indicators were lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3.09 to 1,294.59.
Disappointing news from Microsoft Corp. and software maker Oracle Corp. led to broad selling in technology stocks. The technology-laden Nasdaq composite index fell 30.71 to 2,381.54.
Oracle fell sharply after the company's third-quarter sales fell short of analyst expectations. Microsoft slipped after announcing it would defer about $400 million in revenue from its third quarter to its fourth.
"Most people think we need the tech stocks to push the market through 10,000" said Robert Freedman, executive vice president for John Hancock Funds in Boston. "We will get to 10,000 . . . the market has shown a lot of resiliency."
Decliners led by a narrow margin on the NYSE, with 1,539 down, 1,385 up and 612 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 821.46 million shares vs. 908.58 million yesterday.
The NYSE composite index fell 0.13 to 611.54, and the American Stock Exchange composite index lost 0.44 to 721.21. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies dropped 2.70 to 398.38.
The 30-year Treasury bond rose 14/32, or $4.38 per $1,000 bond, to 95 14/16. Its yield fell 3 basis points to 5.53 percent from yesterday.