Dow Skids As Economic Jitters Grip Investors

Stocks tumbled on Friday for the second day in a row, as a raft of statistics this week showed the economy may be weakening substantially.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 43.23 points at 4,369.00, wiping out over two sessions three-quarters of the 95 points it had gained earlier in the week.

The blue-chip index twice was down more than 50 points during the day, prompting the New York Stock Exchange to restrict computerized trading. Program trading was active throughout the session, and light volume before the Memorial Day holiday sharpened the market’s moves.

Declining issues had a slim 8-to-5 lead on advancers on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume came to 290.7 million shares as of 4 p.m., down from 341.82 million in the previous session.

Friday’s sell-off was a continuation of Thursday, when the Dow fell nearly 26 points after several days of worse-than-expected readings on the economy. Economic reports put out earlier this week showed that unemployment claims were higher, sales of existing homes fell and there were disappointing readings on orders to factories and auto sales.

On Friday, the University of Michigan said its May consumer sentiment index rose to 89.8 from 88.4, but that rise in confidence did nothing to bolster stocks, traders said.

Some of the stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Friday:

NASDAQ

Chipcom Corp. fell 11 7/8 to 20 1/8.

The maker of computer network products said second-quarter sales and profits will be significantly below the first quarter, due mostly to lower revenues from a major customer, IBM.

NextGen Inc. fell 1 3/4 to 24 3/4.

The computer chip maker fell as investors took profits after a big rise on its first day of trading Thursday. NexGen hopes to erode some of Intel Corp.’s dominance in the microprocessor business. Intel was down 1 to 116.

Telco Systems Inc. fell 2 13-16 to 9 15-16.

The maker of fiber optic and high tech telephone transmission gear said sales and profits for the quarter ending in May will be below the previous quarter and the same period last year. The company blamed delayed orders from regional phone companies and other customers.

NYSE

Computer Associates fell 2 1/4 to 69 1/4.

The big software maker fell following its announced purchase Thursday of smaller rival Legent Corp. for $1.8 billion, a deal that would be the industry’s biggest. Merrill Lynch downgraded the stock Friday to “above average” from “buy.”

Ideon Group fell 4 5/8 to 9 1/8.

The marketer of marketing and customer service technologies said the reception to its new products has been less than hoped.

Albertson’s Inc. fell 1 1/2 to 27 5/8.

Prudential Securities removed the food retailer from its list of “single best ideas” but maintained a “buy” rating.

AMEX

Centennial Technologies, up 1 3/8 to 21 5/8.

The maker of font materials for personal computers and printers rose for a third day in a row after the Boston Globe cited it as one of the biggest gainers among Massachusetts companies.