MARKET CLOSE: Profit warnings spook investors

Investors sold off tech and blue-chip stocks Thursday on earnings concerns as the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 130 points to 10,398.04. The Nasdaq composite fell 63 points to close at 3,877.30.

"The near-term worry is definitely profits and what is going to happen in the second quarter given that we have a slowing economy," said Francis Gannon, senior portfolio manager at SunAmerica Asset Management. "But anticipation of the next Fed meeting is definitely having an effect. Every data point between now and August is going to be scrutinized."

Unisys (NYSE: UIS) shares tumbled 8 7/16, or 36 percent, to 14 11/16 after warning of disappointing earnings.

Microsoft (MSFT) fell 1 3/4 to 77 3/16 while Oracle (ORCL) and Sun Microsystems (SUNW) closed off 2 1/16 and 2 3/8 a share, respectively.

Shares of mobile phone maker Ericsson (Nasdaq: ERICY) closed off 1 3/8 to 18 11/16. The company warned that expenses related to implementing next-generation technology could hurt revenue. Shares of rival Nokia (NYSE: NOK) fell 1 7/8 to 48 1/2.

ION Networks (Nasdaq: IONN) plunged 1 5/32 to 3 1/32 after the maker of Internet security software and hardware told Wall Street to lower their first quarter expectations.

SCM Microsystems (Nasdaq: SCMM) shed 35 11/16, or 40 percent, to 53 5/8 after the company warned of second quarter earnings weakness.

Several companies held initial public offerings Thursday.

Video distribution software maker Virage (Nasdaq: VRGE) moved up 5 7/8 to 16 7/8 while healthcare business software vendor CareScience (Nasdaq: CARE) closed off 1 31/32 to 10 1/32.

Interface Systems (Nasdaq: INTF) moved up 2 3/4 to 12 1/4 after the maker of software and services that move data to the Internet from older systems agreed to be bought by Tumbleweed Communications (Nasdaq: TMWD), whose shares fell 9/16 to 49 15/16.

Among widely held PC stocks, Dell Computer (DELL) lost 5/8 to 48 3/8; Gateway (GTW) shed 2 29/32 to 55 11/16; Apple (AAPL) lost 3 3/16 to 51 1/4 and Compaq (CPQ) closed off 3 5/8 to 24 7/8.

Intel (INTC) lopped off 5/8 to 131 3/4 and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) closed down 4 7/16 to 76 1/4.