Sellers Outnumber Bargain Hunters

Stocks recovered most of the ground given up in a sharp loss early Tuesday but still ended lower for a second straight session amid concern about corporate profits in the technology sector.

Buyers slipped into the market shortly after the Dow Jones industrial average registered a 66-point dip and the Nasdaq Stock Market declined as much as 25 points.

“The market was trying to find some balance based on panic selling on one hand and bargain hunting on other,” said Eugene Peroni, director of technical research at Janney Montgomery Scott Inc. in Philadelphia.

The Dow average ended the day down only 5.42 points at 4,720.80, while the Nasdaq index fell 1.27 to 983.47.

Declining issues outnumbered advances by about 12 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume on the floor of the Big Board came to a heavy 412.65 million shares as of 4 p.m., up from a holiday dampened 275.29 million in the previous session.

Some of the stocks that moved substantially Tuesday:

NYSE

Motorola Inc., down 5 to 64.

The company said third-quarter earnings rose 31 percent from last year to 81 cents a share. That was short of Wall Street’s expectations of 84 cents. The disappointment initially pulled down other technology stocks, although some recovered late in the day.

EMC Corp., down 3 to 13-3/4.

The company said late Monday it expects to report third-quarter net income of $71 million, or 31 cents per share, compared with $69 million, or 30 cents per share in the year-ago period. The company said pricing pressures hurt revenue and earnings.

Amway Asia Pacific, down 4-1/4 to 33-3/4.

Fiscal fourth quarter earnings were 35 cents a share vs. pro-forma results in the same three months last year of 33 cents. The company also said it sees its sales pace slowing.

Surgical Care Affiliates, up 4 to 27.

Healthsouth Corp. said it was acquiring the company for $1.2 billion. Healthsouth was down 1-3/8 at 23-1/8.

NASDAQ

Atmel Corp., up 1-3/4 to 29-7/8.

The supplier of integrated circuits said third-quarter corporate earnings were 31 cents a share on more shares vs 17 cents in the same period last year. The company said. summer continued strong for business as bookings increased more than 10 percent from the prior period, driven by strong demand in the telecom and consumer markets.

Read-Rite, up 2-1/4 to 32-3/4.

Salomon Brothers began coverage of the stock with a “strong buy.”