Late Sell-Off Drops Dow 27.83

A wave of computer-generated selling programs sent stocks sharply lower in the last 90 minutes of trading Thursday, adding some action to an otherwise dull session.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 27.83 at 4,643.66, after showing moderate losses for most of the day. Sell programs kicked in at about 2:30 p.m. in New York, sending the market sharply lower.

“It was not frantic selling, but it was sharp enough that you could very easily say it was program trading,” said Ricky Harrington, senior vice president and technical analyst at Interstate-Johnson Lane in Charlotte, N.C.

Declining issues led advancers by about 6 to 5 on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was moderate at 306.67 million shares as of 4 p.m., up from 303.4 million on Wednesday.

Some of the stocks that moved substantially or trading heavily:

NYSE

International Paper fell 2-3/8 to 82-3/8.

Georgia Pacific fell 1-1/4 to 89-3/4.

Weyerhaueser fell 1-3/8 to 46-1/4.

Stone Container fell 3/4 to 20-1/2.

Paper stocks fell after a report that a Smith Barney analyst had warned of price increases in the market for linerboard, and market analyst Elaine Garzarelli named the sector as one area to avoid.

Oakley Inc. rose to 27-1/8 from an original offering price of $23.

The Irvine, Calif. high-end sunglasses maker priced its original stock offering at 23 after the close of trading on Wednesday. The stock opened Thursday at 27, a signal that a healthy appetite remains for some IPOs, even if they are not technology-related.

Hewlett-Packard rose 1/2 to 75-5/8.

The computer maker settled a patent suit with LaserMaster.

NASDAQ

Netscape fell 6-7/8 to 61-3/8.

The stock soared 30 points from its original offering price on Wednesday of $28 per share, sparking a buying spree in technology shares.

Intel fell 1-7/8 to 74-1/4.

Microsoft fell 2-3/8 to 94-1/8.

Computer-related stocks were taking a breather after making strong gains on Wednesday, on the tails of Netscape and Microsoft.

Ericsson Telephone rose 7/16 to 20-1/2.

McCaw Cellular Communications, an AT&T subsidiary, said it would order nearly 3.2 billion kronor worth of equipment from AT&T Network Systems and Ericsson.

AMEX

Cheyenne Software rose 1 to 20-1/4/

The company said Wednesday it had expanded its Original Equipment Manufacturer agreement with Hewlett-Packard.