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Wall Street takes a late hit
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May 20, 1999: 5:09 p.m. ET
Stocks retreat at the end of quiet session; interest rates remain a concern
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Wall Street relinquished its modest gains late in the day Thursday as selling picked up, especially among technology stocks, leaving the broader market at the shallow end of the minus column.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended the day down 20.65 points at 10,866.74. On the New York Stock Exchange, advances outnumbered declines 1,731 to 1,215, as a relatively light 750 million shares traded.
The Nasdaq Composite lost heavy ground at the end of the day, closing 35.04 points, or 1.4 percent, lower at 2,542.36. The S&P 500 index lost 5.40 to 1,338.83.
Frank Gretz, market analyst at Shields & Co., said the overall market remains strong, but investors need to be a lot more careful and picky to sail smoothly in the choppy waters of Wall Street. (548K WAV) or (548K AIFF)
The bond market failed to find direction as the jitters subsided, trading flat despite the latest U.S. trade deficit figures, which came in at a record and well above analysts' expectations. The benchmark 30-year Treasury bond slipped 11/32 of a point in price for a yield of 5.82 percent.
The dollar barely budged against both the yen and the euro.
Techs lack resolve
In the stock market, technology shares found it difficult to regain bullish momentum after a narrowing growth outlook and profit margins at major computer maker Dell (DELL) sparked selling throughout the computer sector Wednesday.
On Thursday, the weakness continued, pushing shares of Dell rival Compaq (CPQ) down 7/16 to 25-9/16 while Gateway (GTW) shed 3-13/16 to 61-1/4 and Dell itself lost 1-9/16 to 38-1/4. Among Dow computer makers, IBM (IBM) gave up 2-7/8 to 233 but Hewlett Packard (HWP) gained 3-1/6 to 94.
Other technology bellwethers were mixed. Intel (INTC) shares slipped 2 to 57-11/16, part of a general slide in semiconductor stocks that took AMD (AMD) down 1-1/4 to 20-3/8 and Micron Technology (MU) down 1-1/8 to 38.
Chip-equipment maker Etec Systems (ETEC) fed into the silicon selling, with shares falling 5-5/8, or nearly 16 percent, to 30-3/8 after the company reported fiscal third-quarter profits that missed Wall Street expectations by a penny a share. CS First Boston downgraded the stock to "hold" from "buy."
In related developments, American depositary receipts (ADRs) of Deutsche Telekom (DT) climbed 1-9/16 to 39-9/16 amid reports that Microsoft (MSFT) is negotiating to buy into its German cable TV network.
The mark of Microsoft entanglements also gave shares of NewsEdge (NEWZ) a lift of 7/8, or more than 10 percent, to 9-1/2. The company, which provides news products online, said it is working with the software giant to add real-time news feeds to the Microsoft suite of products.
Paper, transports glide higher
Elsewhere in the market, paper shares rallied after Morgan Stanley raised its second-quarter earnings estimates on several key players in the industry, forecasting that the recent upturn forest-product prices would lead to pleasant profit surprises.
Dow component International Paper (IP) edged up only 13/16 to 54-13/16, but Georgia Pacific (GP) rose 1-9/16 to 91-7/16 and Weyerhaueser (WY) firmed 1-5/8 to 68-11/16.
The transportation sector was also in the plus column, bouncing back from Wednesday's dramatic retreat. Freight operators led the recovery, with USFreight (USFC) climbing 1-1/2 to 36-1/2 and railroad firm CSX (CSX) gaining 7/8 to 49-5/8, helping the Dow transports add 29/32 to 3,608.52.
Shares of American Airlines holding company AMR (AMR) continued their downward course, falling 2-3/16 to 67. The company's CEO Michael Carty encouraged the airline sector's losses Wednesday, saying lowered expectations on the industry were "not a particular surprise."
(Click here for a look at today's list of CNNfn's market movers.)
(Click here for a look at today's CNNfn technology stocks report.) 
-- by staff writers Malina Poshtova Zang and Robert Scott Martin
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