US investors buy techs and sell blue chips

US investors have regained confidence in hi-tech stocks while lessening their reliance on safer blue chips.

The Dow Jones closed down 107.91 at 10,795.41, a drop of 1%, while the Nasdaq rose 63.69, or 2.6%, to 2,491.41.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 2.88, or 0.2%, to 1,315.92 and the Russell 2000 index inched up 0.92 to 503.49.

The movement could indicate that investors are more comfortable committing to riskier hi-tech issues, believing that the US economy will improve sooner rather than later.

The tech advance could be seen among the Dow's tech components. IBM rose $1.35 to close at $115.10, and Intel climbed $1.69 to $34.13.

Among blue chips, Johnson & Johnson fell $1.25 to $95.65, and Procter & Gamble slipped 86 cents to $73.69. Both are Dow components.

The retailing sector was mixed despite a government report on Tuesday that consumer spending rose more strongly than expected in January.

Home Depot ended down 59 cents at $45.72, but Federated Department Stores advanced 59 cents to trade at $44.81.

Advancing issues nearly matched decliners on the New York Stock Exchange where volume was up slightly from Tuesday.