MARKET CLOSE: Techs, blue chips lose momentum

Technology stocks lost their steam Thursday as the Nasdaq composite shed 50 points to 2,566.57 one day after posting record gains. The Dow Jones industrial average clipped 33 points to finish at 10,912.41.

“It's not clear when the economic recovery is going to start and because of that there is a tug of war that's going to happen,” said Edgar Peters, chief investment officer at PanAgora Asset Management. “We can pretty much say the market has bottomed, but it's not really clear when it will resume any type of advance.”

Speaking of bottoms, Inktomi almost hit one of its own Thursday, falling $4.63 to $13.88 after it warned it will miss analysts’ estimates in its first quarter.

Engage (ENGA) inched up 6 cents to $1.19 after announcing it was breaking it off with half of its employees as part of a plan to accelerate profitability, which should now come by the fourth quarter of 2001.

Yahoo! (YHOO) shed $1.38 to $29.56. America Online (AOL) rose $4.68 to $42.18 while Amazon.com (AMZN) and eBay (EBAY) dropped $2.06 and $4 a share, respectively. CMGI (CMGI) slid 22 cents to $5.

BMC Software (BMCS) shot up $6.69 to $22.31 after announcing its third-quarter results would beat expectations. Computer Associates (NYSE: CA) picked up $4.56 to $25.88 after receiving an upgrade from Prudential Securities.

Microsoft (MSFT) tacked on 50 cents to $48.44. Oracle (ORCL) moved up 56 cents to $32.56 and Sun Microsystems (SUNW) lost $2.19 to $30.81.

Resonate (RSNT) plunged $7.50 to $3.75 after it warned of a fourth-quarter miss and Goldman Sachs dropped it from its recommended list.

Among widely held PC stocks, Dell (DELL) chopped off 81 cents to $19.19; Compaq (CPQ) clipped 21 cents to $17.05; Gateway (GTW) rose $2.85 to $21.75 and Apple Computer (AAPL) closed up 69 cents to $17.06.

InSilicon (INSN) lost $2 to $5.50 after it said it will fall short of analyst estimates because of the delay of several customer licensing contracts.

Intel (INTC) closed off 44 cents to $33.80 and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) picked up 44 cents to $16.69.