NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. stocks fell for the third straight session Thursday amid protracted concerns of a potential war with Iraq and no clear-cut signs of a pickup in corporate profits.

The Dow Jones industrial average (down 82.55 to 8364.80, Charts) fell almost 1 percent. The Nasdaq composite (down 7.41 to 1354.10, Charts) and the Standard & Poor's 500 index (down 6.87 to 884.25, Charts) logged more moderate losses.

The retreat accelerated for blue chips mid-afternoon after Hans Blix, the U.N. chief weapons inspector, said he was not satisfied with Iraq's dossier on its weapons program, saying it failed to answer many questions.

Comments from the Bush administration indicated that, in the administration's view, Iraq was in violation of the U.N. resolution concerning Iraq's weapons programs. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Iraq's declaration was anything but "accurate, full or complete," and constituted another "material breach" of the U.N. resolution.

"We are convinced they have weapons of mass destruction until they prove us otherwise. This fails to move us in the direction of a peaceful solution," Powell said at a State Department press conference Thursday.

The threat of a war against Iraq has hung over Wall Street for months. While many market strategists have said war is already factored into stock prices, others contend that the possibility was only one of the factors keeping a lid on the market.

"The market has done poorly over the recent couple of days and weeks," Tony Dwyer, market strategist with Kirlin Securities told CNNfn's Street Sweep. "Three weeks ago, the fundamentals were improving and all was well with the world. Now there's depression back on Wall Street and it looks like the 'Santa Claus' rally is not going to happen. Having said that, this market is also driven by emotion."

Gold prices rose $3.80 to $346.50 an ounce in U.S. trading. Gold's bull run this week underlines market jitters over Iraq. Typically, money flows to this "safe-haven asset" in times of uncertainty.

Traders also pointed out that the market's choppiness preceded a "triple witching" session Friday, when contracts for stock index futures, stock index options, and stock options all expire. Triple-witching market sessions are known for their heightened volatility.

The government also puts out its final read on third-quarter gross domestic product. Economists expect growth to stay at 4 percent.

The hard-hit technology sector found little reassurance from Oracle's bullish outlook, released late Wednesday. The business software company beat estimates for its fiscal second quarter and said it sees a "modest" improvement in tech spending in its current quarter. Merrill Lynch raised its 2003 and 2004 earnings estimates for Oracle (ORCL: up $0.37 to $11.00, Research, Estimates).

"Semiconductors have been very weak. I think Oracle did help to stabilize techs after Micron hit the market yesterday. But Intersil's warning balanced off Oracle's news," Heidi Reynolds, head of Nasdaq trading with Morgan Keegan, told CNNfn's Halftime Report.

Intersil (ISIL: down $0.99 to $13.39, Research, Estimates)'s warning dented chip stocks. The maker of chips for wireless data communications late Wednesday reduced its fourth-quarter financial outlook, citing a slowdown in customer orders.

Chip equipment maker Micron Technology (MU: down $0.03 to $10.19, Research, Estimates) shed value a day after posting an unexpectedly large miss for the quarter. Dow technology components Microsoft (MSFT: down $0.42 to $53.11, Research, Estimates) and IBM (IBM: down $0.47 to $78.66, Research, Estimates) were stuck with losses for the day.

Meanwhile, General Dynamics (GD: up $1.72 to $79.85, Research, Estimates) tempered the decline for the broader market. The company announced it is buying General Motors' (GM: down $0.26 to $36.11, Research, Estimates) defense unit for $1.1 billion cash, in a move to dominate the market for armored vehicles.

Markets in Asia ended mostly higher, while European stocks slipped Thursday.

Light crude oil futures fell 24 cents to $30.19 a barrel in U.S. trading, easing off earlier highs after Venezuela's Supreme Court ordered the state oil firm PDVSA to temporarily resume operations after an 18-day strike that halted the nation's oil exports and sent global oil prices surging.

Treasury prices rose, with the 10-year note yield at 3.96 percent. The dollar fell against the Japanese yen and was little changed against the euro.

Market breath was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, decliners edged advancers by 9 to 7 as 1.3 billion shares were traded. On the Nasdaq, losers beat gainers 9 to 7 as 1.6 billion shares changed hands.