Market dips on tech sell-off

A TECHNOLOGY-LED sell-off tipped a decidedly mixed market a little lower Thursday afternoon amid the latest crop of earnings reports and persistent geopolitical worries.

Around 1:35pm ET, the Dow Jones industrial average, down 61.09 to 8049.62, the Nasdaq composite down 16.36 to 1341.70, and the S&P 500 index down 9.15 to 855.21 all fell about 1%.

In addition to a growing concern that a war with Iraq is inevitable, mixed results from a trio of Dow stocks and a record loss at AOL Time Warner added to the skepticism that has influenced investors' actions lately. News that economic growth in the fourth quarter was close to nil and claims for unemployment benefits jumped again last week also weighed on the market.