NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The Dow Jones industrial average fell Monday on weakness in General Electric and Citigroup, while the Nasdaq composite closed little changed as investors held back ahead of key quarterly results due out later in the week.

The Dow fell 97.15 to 10,093.67; it had been down more than 120 points earlier in the session. The Nasdaq composite index slipped 2.41 to 1,753.78 on its weakest volume day of the year. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 8.46 to 1,102.55.

"Tomorrow (Tuesday) we get numbers on industrial production and housing and big reports from Intel, Coke, Johnson & Johnson -- maybe that can turn us around," Larry Wachtel, market analyst at Prudential Financial, told CNNfn's Street Sweep.

General Electric (GE: down $1.70 to $31.85, Research, Estimates) continued to trade lower after posting weak first-quarter sales last week. The New York Times, in its Sunday edition, quoted fund manager Robert Olstein as saying he expects the conglomerate's stock to "stumble before the year is out." In a conference call Monday afternoon, GE said it was cutting 7,000 jobs from its financial services unit.

GE is seeing a continued spillover from last quarter and from more recent concerns, said John Inch, a multi-industry analyst at Bear Stearns who covers the stock.

"There's just no catalyst to buy it now," said Inch. "NBC is doing better but there is some concern that other units are not as strong."

Also affecting the Dow, Citigroup (C: down $1.18 to $45.92, Research, Estimates) reported improved profit that nonetheless missed expectations. Elsewhere in the sector, Bank of America (BAC: down $0.85 to $69.20, Research, Estimates) reported a first-quarter profit that topped estimates by 4 cents per share.

"There's cash on the sidelines and a lack of buying commitment as people wait until they can sort out the earnings coming in this week," said Jeff Davis, chief investment officer at Rockefeller & Co. "People are waiting to hear if any new trends developed at the end of the quarter, and what they can extrapolate from that about the second and third quarters. In that kind of environment, it's easy to have a little selling."

Markets were also pressured by rising oil prices after Venezuela's ousted president, who supports higher prices, was reinstated following a failed military coup last week. Light crude oil futures rose $1.11 to settle at $24.80 a barrel in New York. The boost in crude also pressured the Dow Jones transportation index, which fell more than 2 percent. Gold futures dipped, but remained above the $300-an-ounce level.

Offering some hope to tech stocks was optical fiber maker Corning (GLW: down $0.02 to $6.83, Research, Estimates), which said its first-quarter loss would be 10 cents a share, narrower than the 17-cent-a-share loss analysts were expecting. While the stock closed out Monday almost unchanged, the news was seen as a positive for the troubled sector.

"Corning provides a little strength to a very beleaguered sector, but the Street has not been expecting much out of the telecoms," said Bryan Piskorowski, market commentator at Prudential Financial.

Media company and CNN/Money parent AOL Time Warner (AOL: up $1.25 to $21.35, Research, Estimates) got a boost from an article in Barron's, in which a hedge-fund manager cited attractive valuation now that the stock has been so depleted.

A federal judge in Florida has allowed a $1.3 billion lawsuit brought against Cisco Systems (CSCO: down $0.29 to $15.01, Research, Estimates) by a telecom services company to proceed. The suit alleges Cisco engaged in fraudulent practices in dealing with the company.

Other tech names in active trade included No. 1 chipmaker Intel (INTC: down $0.28 to $28.11, Research, Estimates) and No. 1 Unix server maker Sun Microsystems (SUNW: down $0.18 to $7.79, Research, Estimates), ahead of the release of their quarterly results, due out later in the week.

Treasury prices were modestly higher, pushing the 10-year note yield down to 5.13 percent by the close.

European markets closed higher on strength in techs and telecoms, while Asian stocks finished mostly higher Monday. The dollar was little changed versus the euro and slightly higher against the yen.

Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, decliners beat advancers 9-to-7 as 1.11 billion shares changed hands. On the Nasdaq, losers beat winners by almost 9-to-8 as 1.36 billion shares traded.

More than one-third of the S&P 500 is expected to report results this week. Analysts expect almost a 10 percent decline from the same period one year earlier.

"'Tis the season to report earnings, so we're going to be susceptible to what companies say on a day-to-day, minute-to-minute basis -- not just what they say now, but looking forward," Prudential's Piskorowski said.