Dow off 44;
Nasdaq at record

Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Stocks were mostly lower today as an earnings warning from Gillette Co. put the brakes on yesterday's rally.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 43.84 to close at 9,963.49. The index shifted between positive and negative territory for much of the session. Broader indexes were mixed.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite was the bright spot in the market for much of the day before giving up most of its gains in the last hour of trading. Still the Nasdaq index closed at 2,563.17, up 3.11 from yesterday's record.

Sun Microsystems Inc. rose $10.62-1/2 to $140.62-1/2 after the company told investors of new efforts to improve its compatibility with Microsoft Corp.'s Windows NT operating system.

The S&P 500 index fell 3.23 to 1,317.89 from yesterday's record.

Decliners beat advancers by a 3-to-2 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,764 down, 1,185 up and 602 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 790.91 million shares vs. 699.37 million yesterday.

The NYSE composite index fell 2.31 to 612.32; the American Stock Exchange composite index dropped 6.03 to 715.21; and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies lost 1.21 to 401.08.

The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond rose 1 point, or $10 per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon, while its yield fell to 5.52 percent from 5.59 percent late yesterday. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Stock traders attributed today's overall market dip to investors hoping to lock in profits from yesterday's jump. The Dow rose 174.82 yesterday to close at 10,007.33, a record that marked the index's second finish above 10,000.