MARKET CLOSE: Internet stocks take a beating

Technology stocks took another merciless pounding in light trading Monday as the Nasdaq composite plunged 73 points to 2,619.16. The Dow Jones industrial average closed off 48 points to 10,863.16.

Investors were unwilling to commit to any large buy orders ahead of the second half of Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's Humphrey-Hawkins testimony before the Senate later this week.

"I think he has frightened investors this time," said Robert Stovall, president of Stovall/Twenty-First Advisers said. "Personally, I don't think he has any reason to raise rates unless he wants to make a preemptive strike."

Internet and networking stocks took heavy losses.

America Online Inc. (AOL) fell 8 5/16 to 99 5/8 while Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) plunged 11 7/16 and 8 5/8 a share, respectively. Excite@Home Corp. (ATHM) inched up 1/8 to 46 3/16 and Infoseek Corp. (SEEK) moved up 3/8 to 41 but Lycos Inc. (LCOS) dropped 6 3/4 to 88 3/16.

Real Networks Inc. (RNWK) lost 6 to 84. Dr. Koop.com Inc. (KOOP) shed 4 3/4 to 25 1/2 and Network Solutions Inc. (NSOL) closed off 2 3/8 to 70 7/8.

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) shaved off 1 7/8 to 61 1/16. 3Com Corp. (COMS) ended off 9/16 to 24 5/16 and Lucent Technologies Inc. (LU) closed off 2 3/8 to 64 3/4.

GTE Corp. (GTE) closed off 13/16 to 75 7/16 after reporting earnings of 79 cents a share, on target with First Call's expectation. AT&T Corp. (T) added 1 to 55 and MCI WorldCom Inc. (WCOM) closed off 1 3/8 to 86 3/16.

Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) shed 4 to 135 after announcing plans to buy Unitrode Corporation (NYSE: UTR) in a deal valued around $1.2 billion.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) fell 2 1/2 to 87 3/4. Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW) lost 1 3/16 and 2 1/16 a share, respectively.

Among widely held PC stocks, Dell Computer Corp. (DELL) slid 1 to 40; Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) added 3/8 to 24 7/8; Gateway Inc. (GTW) lost 2 5/16 to 70 11/16 and Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) closed off 2 3/8 to 50 15/16. International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) fell 1 3/8 to 123 7/16.

Intel Corp. (INTC) lost 1 5/16 to 62 7/8 and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) inched up 3/8 to 16 5/16.