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Sell-Off Snaps Four-Day Stock Rally

Associated Press

Blue-chip stocks stumbled on Thursday as investors, concerned that gilt-edge issues may have peaked, sold their holdings to book profits.

But continued buoyancy in the high-tech sector pushed some broadmarket indexes to new highs.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 14.09 to 4,669.72, ending a four-day winning streak.

Leon Brand, international stock specialist at NatWest Securities, said the profit-taking in blue chips was fueled in part by expectations that the economy may be improving again, and that the rising dollar will hinder U.S. exports.

Volume on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange was moderate at 321.7 million shares as of 4 p.m., down from 369.52 million on Wednesday. Declining issues barely outpaced advancers on the New York Stock Exchange.

Some of the stocks that moved substantially Thursday:

NYSE

Micron Technology rose 3/8 to 87-5/8.

Texas Instruments fell 1-1/4 to 77-3/8.

National Semiconductor rose 1/4 to 32-3/8.

Semiconductor stocks finished mixed after putting in a very strong morning. SoundView Financial Group, a Connecticut investment bank, upgraded Micron Technology on Wednesday, saying demand for computer chips was outstripping production capacity.

IBM fell 1-1/4 to 99-1/2.

The computer company’s well-regarded financial chief, Jerome York, resigned to go to Tracinda Corp.

Chrysler rose 3/4 to 57-5/8.

In a new effort to appease its largest shareholder and raise its stock price, Chrysler said it is doubling its stock repurchase program. The carmaker authorized the spending of an additional $1 billion to buy back its shares.

NASDAQ

Intel rose 2-1/2 to 65.

Novell rose 1-1/4 to 20-1/16.

Microsoft rose 1-1/8 to 94-5/8.

Cyrix rose 1-3/4 to 41.

Semiconductor stocks rose for the second day after SoundView Financial Group, a Connecticut investment bank, upgraded Micron Technology on Wednesday, saying demand for computer chips was outstripping production capacity.

AMEX

Thermolase fell 1-1/8 to 22-1/8.

CNBC commentator Dan Dorfman quoted an analyst as saying the company had delayed opening new salons and may be up against stiff competition, specifically from DUSA Pharmaceuticals.