Blue chips fall, tech stocks rise as first quarter ends

AP Business WriterNEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street ended the first quarter on a mixed note Thursday, with tech stocks higher but blue chips faltering at the last minute as jittery investors braced themselves for earnings reports due out next week.

Analysts attributed some of the market's meandering to low volume ahead of the Good Friday holiday, but said the larger impediment was fear that business profits won't improve enough to justify higher stock prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 22.97, or 0.2 percent, at 10,403.94, falling back from an earlier gain of 75 and cutting short a two-session winning streak.

Broader stock indicators fared better. The technology-focused Nasdaq composite index rose 18.60, or 1.0 percent, to 1,845.35. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 2.81, or 0.3 percent, at 1,147.39.

For the week, the Dow slipped 0.2 percent, the Nasdaq lost 0.3 percent, while the S&P fell 0.1 percent.

The performance was an appropriate finish to a difficult three-month period for the markets. Despite a rally in early March, the market has been unable to maintain momentum because of investor doubts about the timing and strength of a business turnaround. Although the Dow ended the first quarter up 3.8 percent, the Nasdaq lost 5.4 percent and the S&P was little changed.

"A lot of people are just waiting. They have bought what they want to buy and they're sitting back and waiting for things to happen and to see if their stocks go up," said Todd Clark, head of listed equity trading at Wells Fargo Securities.

In trading Thursday, investors focused on the tech sector, which had been out of favor in recent sessions, including Microsoft, which climbed 87 cents to $60.31.

Blue chips were more mixed. Boeing gained 92 cents to $48.25 on word of a significant new order. But 3M dropped $1.95 to $115.01 after Credit Suisse First Boston rated the stock a "hold," citing pricing pressures.

Stocks rose enough for the market to end the month higher -- the Dow rose 3 percent, the Nasdaq advanced 6.6 percent and the S&P climbed 3.7 percent -- but concern that business remains sluggish continued to pressure stocks. As a result, analysts say, many buyers are holding back until first-quarter earnings season, which begins next week, to see whether a rebound is under way.

"Looking ahead, we're going to be watching earnings reports. But the focus won't be the results and what the companies did in January, February and March, but what they're going to do in April, May and June," said Bryan Piskorowski, market commentator at Prudential Securities.

Before the market opened, the Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 1.7 percent during the last three months of 2001 -- its second revision from a figure initially reported as 0.2 percent.

Although the GDP data suggested that the recession might have been less harsh than feared, the news failed to inspire much buying because it was about the past -- rather than the future.

Also Thursday, a University of Michigan survey showed consumer sentiment increased from February to March, according to Dow Jones Newswires. But a Labor Department report showing new claims for unemployment insurance rose by 18,000 to 394,000 last week reminded Wall Street that business continues to struggle.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners nearly 4 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume was light because of the Passover and Easter holidays, coming to 1.41 billion shares, compared with 1.46 billion Wednesday.

The Russell 2000 index rose 0.61 to 506.46.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.1 percent. In Europe, Germany's DAX index advanced 0.9 percent, Britain's FT-SE 100 climbed 1.1 percent, and France's CAC-40 gained 1.4 percent.

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