NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. stocks ended little changed Thursday as a weakening dollar and escalating tension between India and Pakistan could not keep investors from nibbling on some of the year's hardest-hit technology stocks.

But the major indexes enter the last day of May in tough shape. The Dow Jones industrial average, Nasdaq Composite index and Standard & Poor's 500 index are lower in 2002 following two straight annual losses.

After opening higher, markets gyrated all day, with the Dow industrials ending down 11.35 points, or 0.1 percent, to 9,911.69, for its fourth straight decline. The Nasdaq rose 7.53, or 0.5 percent, to 1,631.92, snapping a three-day losing streak. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3, or 0.3 percent, to 1,064.66, widening its 2002 loss to 7.3 percent.

The Dow's biggest loser, J.P. Morgan (JPM: down $0.96 to $36.01, Research, Estimates), was followed by Home Depot (HD: down $0.80 to $40.15, Research, Estimates) and Exxon Mobil (XOM: down $0.95 to $39.35, Research, Estimates).

But Oracle (ORCL: up $0.02 to $8.42, Research, Estimates), Sun Microsystems (SUNW: up $0.13 to $6.89, Research, Estimates) and Cisco Systems (CSCO: up $0.36 to $16.01, Research, Estimates) narrowed some of this year's losses as investors searched for bargains.

Bill Meade, trader at RBC Capital Markets, is betting that the bottom is near.

"When you reach an absolute nadir in sentiment, whenever that happens, investors say 'you know what, that's when you buy them,' " said Meade. "It gets back to a very simple thesis: You buy them low and sell them higher."

Meade recommends technology stocks and is shunning consumer cyclical stocks that rallied over the last year.

More stocks fell than rose. On the New York Stock Exchange, losing shares beat winning ones 8-to-7 as 1.2 billion shares traded. Nasdaq decliners edged advancers as 1.5 billion million shares changed hands.

In other markets, Treasury securities edged higher. Gold prices were flat following the year's big gains. Oil fell.

The dollar fell to its lows of the year Thursday, dropping as low as 122.82 yen from 124.32 yen late Wednesday. The euro rose as high as 94.16 cents from 93.54 cents Wednesday.

"U.S. dollar pessimism continues to pervade the foreign exchange market," said Alex Beuzelin, currency strategist at Ruesch International.

A weakening dollar gives investors more reason to fret about a shaky economic recovery. Import prices rise as the U.S. currency weakens, triggering inflation. Overseas investors, big owners of U.S. stocks and bonds, may sell as the dollar falls, further hurting a market that has fallen two straight years.

The dollar's decline comes as U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld prepares to go to Pakistan and India next week, trying to ease tension between the nuclear rivals in their dispute over Kashmir.

Losses continued for Applied Materials (AMAT: down $0.51 to $22.59, Research, Estimates), Ericsson (ERICY: down $0.13 to $2.18, Research, Estimates) and Novellus Systems (NVLS: down $0.35 to $43.05, Research, Estimates), whose declines led the market lower Wednesday.

Donald Selkin, director of research at Joseph Stevens, said pessimism about stocks has reached levels not seen since the late 1970s, the last time the market endured back-to-back losing years.

"I think the fundamentals are not as bad as the market suggests," said Selkin, who is encouraged by low inflation and forecasts for rebounding profits this year. "Hopefully we'll get to a point where we're oversold enough to draw buyers."

Genesis Microchip (GNSS: down $6.66 to $16.70, Research, Estimates) did reach that point Thursday. US Bancorp Piper Jaffray said the chipmaker's revenue guidance for the June quarter is at risk.

"In our opinion, the stock is above (the) fair value zone," Ashok Kumar, who covers the company for US Bancorp, told clients.

One of the Dow's biggest winners, Philip Morris (MO: up $0.57 to $56.58, Research, Estimates), has agreed to sell its Miller Brewing unit to South African Breweries in a $5.6 billion deal. The world's biggest cigarette manufacturer will own 36 percent of the new SABMiller. Gains in Procter & Gamble (PG: up $1.73 to $88.75, Research, Estimates) kept the Dow from bigger losses.

The latest government data showed that the number of Americans filing for first-time jobless benefits fell by 12,000 to 410,000 last week. Those unemployed for a while may be having difficulty finding work; continuing claims rose to levels not seen since 1983.

A ceremony commemorating the end of recovery efforts at the site of the former World Trade Center wrapped up at mid-morning.

Nearly nine months later, the major indexes are little changed from where they where Sept. 11, when hijacked planes attacked the nation. But markets have been volatile, plunging when trading resumed on Sept. 17 before rallying through year's end.

The Nasdaq's gain Thursday narrowed its year-to-date loss to 16.4 percent. The Dow is down 1 percent on the year.