Market Close: Dow, Nasdaq lose ground

Wall Street resumed its leisurely slide into the summer doldrums Tuesday as the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 144 points to 10,765.64 while the Nasdaq composite shaved off 50 points to end at 2,474.64.

Technology stocks, which traditionally hit their annual lows in the summer months, were pounded in Tuesday trading.

Although this is considered the slowest time of the year for investors, analyst are looking ahead to Friday's Producer Price Index report for May. Next week, the Consumer Price Index will be reported. Both reports will give the markets and the Federal Reserve Board a chance to identify any inflationary red flags.

Infoseek Corp. (SEEK) bucked the general selloff in the Internet sector on reports that Walt Disney Co. (DIS) is indeed interested in buying the rest of the shares it doesn't already own. Infoseek closed up 6 1/16 to 49 1/16, its third-consecutive positive gain.

The rest of the sector, however, took its lumps.

Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) tumbled 8 7/8 to 143 while Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and America Online Inc. (AOL) fell 5 13/16 and 4 13/16 a share, respectively. Excite Inc. (XCIT) closed unchanged at 133 and Lycos Inc. (LCOS) trimmed 1/8 to 92 1/8.

A pair of Internet IPOs got off to a decent start Tuesday.

Drkoop.com Inc. (KOOP) moved up 7 7/16 to 16 7/16 in its debut. BackWeb Technologies Inc. (BWEB) surged up 7 11/16 to 19 11/16 in its initial public offering.

eToys Inc. (ETYS) shed 1 3/16 to 52 1/8 after Amazon.com announced plans to sell toys online.

Intergraph Corp. (INGR) lost 1 11/32 to 8 1/2 after a federal court ruled that Intel Corp. (INTC) had no right to use the company's "Clipper" technology. Intel shares fell 1 3/4 to 51 11/16 and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) closed off 1/4 to 17 11/16.

Telecommunications stocks were very active Tuesday after a pair of analysts upgraded the likes of Bell Atlantic Corp. (BEL) and MCI WorldCom Inc. (WCOM). Bell Atlantic closed up 1 1/2 to 56 15/16 while MCI WorldCom Inc. (WCOM) lost 2 5/16 to 89.

Value America Inc. (VUSA) shot up 4 7/16 to 23 5/16 after the online retailer added six new members to its board, including executives at FedEx and Global Crossing Ltd.

Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) dropped 15/16 to 22 15/16 after a negative report from a USB Piper Jaffray analyst. Dell Computer Corp. (DELL) shaved off 1 3/4 to 34 and International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) dipped 4 3/16 to 116 5/16. Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) clipped 1 1/4 to 47 11/16 and Gateway Inc. (GTW) chopped off 2 1/16 to 63 1/2.

Among other widely held technology issues, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) lost 7/8 to 79 3/8; Oracle Corp. (ORCL) dipped 1 3/8 to 27 1/8; Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) fell 3 11/16 to 111 11/16 and Ascend Communications Inc. (ASND) closed off 3 1/16 to 98 7/8.