Blue-Chip Pullback Snaps Dow’s Rebound

Technology stocks struggled higher Thursday, but blue-chip shares faltered, halting a three-day rally that had nearly halved a month-long slide by the Dow Jones industrial average.

The Dow fell 21.27 to 6,658.60 after giving back a 33-point gain that put the barometer of 30 big companies above 6,700 for the first time in three weeks.

Broad-market indicators turned mostly lower in the afternoon as investors moved to lock in some gains from the past few days.

“I was encouraged early in the day when I saw the recent strength, which had been limited to the Dow, spreading out to the Nasdaq stocks,” said Robert Stovall, president of Stovall/Twenty-First Advisers. “But then in the afternoon, there was a lot of selling pressure in the blue-chips, and that made things tail off.”

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a narrow margin on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume totaled 502.81 million shares as of 4 p.m., almost even with Wednesday’s pace.

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

NYSE

Sears, Roebuck, down 2 at 46-3/4.

The retailer’s first-quarter profits rose 20.4 percent, but its stock fell on concerns about how much Sears will have to pay customers in a debt collection foul up.

Digital Equipment, up 1-1/2 at 27-1/2.

Disappointing revenues from computer sales and services led to a 59 percent decline in Digital’s third-quarter earnings, but the results beat expectations.

Footstar, down 6-1/2 at 18-5/8.

Nike, down 3-7/8 at 54-1/8.

The stocks fell after specialty retailer Footstar cautioned that sales in the athletic sector appear to be slowing. The warning came as Footstar, based in Mahwah, N.J., reported a $5 million profit from its first quarter.

NASDAQ

Apple Computer, up 7/16 at 19.

The computer maker posted its second-worst quarterly performance ever, losing $708 million in the three months ended March 28 as it paid for sweeping job cuts and an acquisition. But Apple also said late Wednesday it still expects to resume making money in the fourth quarter.

Cyrix, up 3-7/8 at 21-5/8.

The computer chip maker’s first-quarter earnings more than tripled. Cyrix said late Wednesday it earned $6.6 million, or 33 cents a share. Revenue rose 47 percent to $75.6 million.

DSP Communications, down 3-1/2 at 7-1/4.

The maker of chip sets and other telecommunications equipment said it expects to report disappointing lower sales and earnings in the second quarter, prompting Merrill Lynch and UBS Securities to downgrade the stock.