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NEW YORK -- Stocks closed mixed today as technology stocks slumped on fears that earnings will decline during the second half of 2000. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up a scant 2.93 at 10,908.76. Dow up 2.93;
Nasdaq loses 93.5Associated Press
Broader stock indicators were lower. The Nasdaq composite index finished down 93.51, or 2.4 percent, at 3,759.99, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 12.62 to 1,460.25. The Russell 2000 index fell 5.85 to 501.65.
Decliners slightly beat advancers with 1,473 down, 1,347 up and 521 unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 941.7 million shares, down from 1.06 billion yesterday.
The NYSE composite index fell 1.32 to 659.25 but the American Stock Exchange composite rose 2.95 to 910.26.
The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was up 21/32 point, or $6.56 per $1,000 in face value; its yield fell to 5.68 percent from 5.73 percent late yesterday.
Stock trading was marked by caution as fears that earnings could slow in the second half of 2000 re-emerged as a factor. "There's a lot of nervousness in the technology sector. The valuations are so high in that area that they can brook no disappointments," said Michael Metz, a managing director and portfolio manager at CIBC World Markets in New York.
Shares of semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials fell $2.88 to $69.25 today despite reporting third-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street analysts' expectations.