NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dow Chemical, the No. 1 U.S. chemical maker, Thursday said it planned to close two Texas plants and cut up to 4,000 jobs.

William Stavropoulos, Dow's chief executive, said in a conference call that the company planned to close two plants in Texas run by Union Carbide Corp., the chemical company Dow acquired.

Stavropoulos also said the company would to lower its capital spending in 2003 by $400 million, or 25 percent, and would cut 3,000-to-4,000 jobs from its work force.

Earlier Thursday, Dow (DOW: down $0.27 to $28.83, Research, Estimates) posted a net loss of $809 million, or 89 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $37 million, or 4 cents a share, a year earlier.

Dow said that excluding these and other smaller items, its loss came to $172 million, or 18 cents a share.

Analysts were looking for breakeven results excluding items, according to Thomson First Call.