Stocks ended mixed on Wednesday, matching the performance of technology shares, which made an unconvincing bid to rebound from a recent rut.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 3.87 to 4,604.57. The blue chip index spent most of the day in slightly positive territory but dipped in the last two hours of trading.

Advancers had a 4-to-3 lead on decliners on the New York Stock Exchange. Big Board volume was 329.78 million shares as of 4 p.m., up from 311.29 million Tuesday. Trading has cooled from the frantic pace of July’s record-smashing stock market rally, and activity was moderate in advance of the long Labor Day weekend and as investors awaited Friday’s employment data.

Technology stocks started the day higher, continuing a rally that began on Tuesday afternoon, but turned mixed as the day wore on.

“The real problem facing this market is that we have lost our leadership,” said Ricky Harrington, senior vice president and technical analyst at Interstate-Johnson Lane in Charlotte, N.C.

Some of the stocks that moved substantially Wednesday:

NYSE

IBM fell 3/4 to 101-5/8.

Compaq rose 1-1/8 to 47-1/4.

Micron Technology rose 1-3/8 to 73-1/4.

Digital Equipment rose 1-3/4 to 40-7/8.

Computer issues, which have long been market leaders, finished mixed after putting in a strong morning.

Time Warner fell 7/8 to 41-3/8.

Time Warner agreed to acquire Turner Broadcasting in a stock swap valued at about $35 per Turner share, or more than $8 billion. Turner’s shares were up sharply on the American Stock Exchange system.

AT&T rose 1-3/8 to 56-5/8.

Sprint Corp. rose 5/8 to 35-7/8.

AT&T will petition the Federal Communications Commission to block France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom from buying a combined 20 percent of AT&T rival Sprint.

NASDAQ

Intel rose 1-1/2 to 60-3/8.

Cisco Systems rose 1-3/8 to 64-1/4.

Microsoft rose 1-3/8 to 93-1/4.

Oracle Corp. fell 3/4 to 39-7/8.

Computer issues, which have long been market leaders, finished mixed after putting in a strong morning.

AMEX

Turner Broadcasting Class “A” up 6-7/8 to 30-1/2.

Turner Broadcasting Class “B” up 6-1/2 to 30-1/2.

Time Warner agreed to acquire Turner Broadcasting in a stock swap valued at about $35 per Turner share, or more than $8 billion.