NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The Nasdaq composite index fell for a fifth straight session Tuesday when another round of downbeat outlooks from technology companies spooked investors still smarting over disappointments from WorldCom and Ericsson.

Losses in Exxon Mobil and DuPont helped push the Dow Jones industrial average to a two-month low after profits at both companies fell short of expectations.

The Nasdaq fell 28.38 points, or 1.6 percent, to 1,730.30, widening its year-to-date loss to 11.3 percent. The Dow industrials slipped 47.19, or 0.5 percent, to 10,089.24. Its lowest close since Feb. 22 narrowed the Dow's 2002 gain to 0.7 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 6.87, or 0.6 percent, to 1,100.96.

The market proved unable to bounce back from Monday's losses amid mixed reports from hundreds of companies releasing March-quarter results. Stocks also can't seem to break the narrow trading range held since late last year.

Questions about Middle East stability and U.S. economic health are restraining stocks, said Mike Murphy, head of trading at Wachovia Securities.

"The market never goes up on uncertainty," Murphy said. "We are not seeing a lot of direction either way. I think people are waiting to see."

In the latest uncertainty, an explosion went off Tuesday in the building adjacent to Yasser Arafat's office in the West Bank town of Ramallah, according to the Associated Press, which cited aides to the Palestinian leader. Nobody was inside the building, which was part of the Palestinian prison at the compound, Tawfik Tirawi, head of Palestinian intelligence in the West Bank, told the AP.

More stocks fell than rose. On the New York Stock Exchange, declining stocks topped advancing ones as 1.3 billion shares traded. Nasdaq losers edged winners 5-to-4 as 1.9 billion shares changed hands.

In other markets, the dollar ended little changed against the yen and euro. Treasury securities were flat.

Another round of technology companies cut guidance, including Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC: down $4.26 to $12.20, Research, Estimates), Chordiant Software (CHRD: down $1.18 to $4.81, Research, Estimates) and CACI International (CACI: down $8.49 to $32.00, Research, Estimates). Internet service provider EarthLink (ELNK: down $1.58 to $7.95, Research, Estimates) lost more money than expected.

The companies join Ericsson (ERICY: down $0.25 to $2.49, Research, Estimates) and WorldCom (WCOM: down $0.60 to $3.41, Research, Estimates), which were unable to recover from big losses in the previous session. Sales warnings from the two companies sparked a telecom stocks selloff Monday that hit the rest of the market.

As for Dow issues, chemical maker DuPont's (DD: down $1.51 to $44.84, Research, Estimates) first-quarter profit of 55 cents a share missed forecasts by a penny a share. Quarterly profit at Exxon Mobil (XOM: down $0.50 to $41.35, Research, Estimates) fell short by 8 cents a share as the No. 1 oil producer said it was hurt by lower fuel prices and slack energy demand.

Even chip stocks were unable to make any real gains despite signs the industry may be on the mend. A trade group said orders for semiconductor capital equipment in North America rose 14 percent in March from the prior month.

"So far, it's been a little disappointing," said Charles Payne, CEO of Wall Street Strategies. "We've been in a pattern over the past few weeks of up, down and up, down."

Payne does not expect the market to stand still the way it did in the 1970s. But he forecasts a choppy year as investors work through issues including the collapse of Enron, distrust of Wall Street analysis, rising Middle East violence and job insecurity.

"I think there's a lack of conviction," Payne said. "I think a lot of people view the market as a crap shoot -- if you're worried about losing your job, you're not going to be playing the market."

Overall first-quarter profits are expected to have fallen for a fifth straight quarter before rebounding in the current period. Stocks rallied for two months after Sept. 21 following a big selloff during the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. But they've gone nowhere since December.

"It's sort of interesting -- the direction that earnings are giving us," Steven Murphy, associate director of Institutional Direct, told CNNfn's Market Call. "Right now, it's non-committal."

The market's flat action brings comparisons to an earlier decade. The Dow industrials first closed above 1,000 in 1972. Eleven years passed before the Dow industrials first ended above 1,100 in 1983.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan returned to Capitol Hill Tuesday to testify before the Senate Banking Committee, but his statement was limited to comments about federal bank deposit insurance. By saying the pace of economic recovery remains cloudy, Greenspan last week suggested he's in no hurry to raise interest rates after cutting them 11 times last year.

Economic data could move stocks Wednesday, which brings the release of March figures on durable goods orders and news home sales.