Stocks End in Mixed Territory

N E W  Y O R K, Nov. 27 -- Stocks ended in mixed territory as blue chipsheld on to some of their gains in the session, but high-tech shareslost ground.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended on the plus side asretailers got a boost from some better than expected Thanksgivingweekend sales figures. The blue chip index ended up nearly 76points at 10,546 after having been up more than 100points earlier.

Traders say the late selling was an effort to lock in gains madeearlier since up days have been so hard to come by recently.

Market breadth was positive as advancing issues topped losers5-4, as about 925 million shares changed hands on theNew York Stock Exchange.

Technology shares sank as trading progressed and the Nasdaqcomposite ended down 24 points at 2,880, after having beenup about 100 points.

The broader S&P 500 gained seven points to settle at1,349.

Earnings Cause Concern AgainEarnings worries reappeared on Wall Street, limiting the market’s gains despite optimism about aresolution of the presidential election.

Earlier, blue chips advanced on strong performances by financial andpharmaceutical issues, but technology issues struggled to holdtheir gains after two prominent brokerage houses expressed concernsabout Broadcom, Xilinx and Altera.

“The lack of closure on the election is certainly an excuse forseeing pressure in the marketplace, but fundamentally, you’ve had alot of very high-priced stocks that are confronting a substantialslowdown in the economy and earnings,” said Robert J. Barbera,chief economist at Hoenig & Co.

In late afternoon trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jonesindustrial average was up 141.82 at 10,612.05.

Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Nasdaq composite indexwas off 0.29 at 2,904.09, after spiking up as much as 94 points inearly trading. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up 15.27 at1,357.04.

The Day on Wall StreetStocks rose early in the session, reacting to Florida’s officialrecognition of Texas Gov. George W. Bush as the winner of its keyelectoral votes. By this afternoon, though, Vice President AlGore had challenged the results in court — an indication that aresolution might still be out of reach.