MARKET CLOSE: Dow, Nasdaq lose ground

The Dow Jones industrial average shaved off 53 points to 10,655.15 Tuesday. Technology stocks were beaten back again as the Nasdaq slid another 29 points to end at 2,490.11.

"The whole thing looks worse than it really is," said Charles Payne, the head analyst at Wall Street Strategies, an independent market research firm. "We've just got to mark time until we get a clear picture on the interest rate front."

Dell Computer Corp. (DELL) lost 9/16 to 40 7/16. Gateway Inc. (GTW) and Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) added 1/16 and 15/16 a share, respectively, while Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) dropped 7/16 to close at 22 1/4.

Lucent Technologies (LU) fell 2 1/8 to 61 1/2 said it will merge with International Network Services (INSS), which closed up 3 to 50 7/16. Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) lost 1 1/16 to 58 3/4 ahead of its fourth-quarter earnings report. 3Com Corp. (COMS) closed unchanged at 22 15/16.

Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) lost 3 3/4 to 12 7/16 after it revealed plans to refocus its computer workstation business, and unveiled its second restructuring in less than a year, with plans to spin off its media operations, and shed up to 1,500 jobs.

Intel Corp. (INTC) lost 1 11/16 to 71 3/4. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) shed 13/16 to 18 7/16 and International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) closed off 2 7/8 to 119 5/16.

Digital Communications company Razorfish Inc. (RAZF) chopped off 3 1/4 to 25 after it said it plans to acquire i-Cube Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based provider of electronic business services, in a deal valued at about $677 million.

Among widely held Internet stocks, Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) added 6 5/16 to 127 1/2; America Online Inc. (AOL) trimmed 7/8 to 84 11/16; Lycos Inc. (LCOS) rose 11/16 to 33 3/4; Infoseek Corp. (SEEK) dropped 3/4 to 30 11/16 and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) picked up 5 1/2 to 91.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) fell 7/8 to 82 15/16 and Oracle Corp. (ORCL) lost 3/8 to 36.