MARKET CLOSE: Techs, blue chips flat ahead of election results

Stocks moved sideways Tuesday as investors awaited the outcome of what's likely going to be the closest presidential election in 40 years. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 25 points to 10,952.18 while the Nasdaq trimmed 0.41 points to finish at 3,415.80.

"People are going to take time out today, back off, see what happens and digest the election news," said Barry Hyman, chief investment strategist at Weatherly Securities.

Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) moved up $1.63 to $56.75 after it topped analysts' estimates in its first quarter but warned of inventory issues.

Cisco's uncertainty had a cooling effect on other telecom-equipment makers as JDS Uniphase (JDSU) fell $3.31 to $74.13 while PMC-Sierra (PMCS) and Nortel Networks (NT) lost $25.94 and $1.56 a share, respectively.

Transmeta Corp. (Nasdaq: TMTA) shot up $24.25 to $45.25 in its initial public offering despite reports that Compaq Computer (NYSE: CPQ) is the latest large computer manufacturer to pass over Transmeta Corp.'s Crusoe processor.

Compaq shares finished up $1.48 to $31.28 while Gateway (GTW) and Dell (DELL) rose $3.41 and $1.06 a share, respectively. Apple Computer (AAPL) trimmed 13 cents to $21.31.

Vertel (Nasdaq: VRTL) moved up $1.50 to $5.56 after the company announced it has sold licenses of its products to two companies in China.

Microsoft (MSFT) added $1 to $70.50. Oracle (ORCL) shaved off $1.38 to $26.56 and Sun Microsystems (SUNW) picked up 75 cents to $111.44.

VerticalNet (Nasdaq: VERT) said it will buy SierraCities (Nasdaq: BTOB) for $133 million in stock. SierraCities shares closed up $1.61 to $5.86 while VerticalNet lost $1.69 to $27.81.

Yahoo! (YHOO) rose $2.88 to $68.50. America Online (AOL) picked up $1.75 to $57.61 while Amazon.com (AMZN) and eBay (EBAY) closed up 38 cents and $2.31 a share, respectively.

Intel (INTC) dropped 38 cents to $46.19. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) shed $1.75 to $22.56 and IBM (IBM) gained $2 to $102.31.