Late buying binge halts Wall Street decline

A last-minute buying binge brought on by cheap prices has rescued US stocks from a steep decline on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 45.14, or 0.4%, at 10,450.14, while the Nasdaq rose 31.45, or 1.5%, to 2,183.28.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index inched up 1.28 to 1,241.22 and the Russell 2000 index ended down 1.08 at 473.29.

Much of the tech sector's late reprieve came from IBM, which met privately with analysts at SG Cowen. IBM, a Dow stock, said it didn't report any new information to the analysts, but its stock climbed $6.15 to $106.05.

Other tech gainers included companies that make communications equipment. PMC Sierra rose $5.63 to $39.13, while JDS Uniphase advanced $2.50 to $29.25.

Among the big hi-tech losers were companies, including semiconductor maker Broadcom, that announced earnings are going to continue to slump. Broadcom lost $1.63 to close at $47.63.

Bleak profit outlooks also hurt Gateway, which ended down $1.45 at $15.75. The computer maker warned that first-quarter earnings will be disappointing, and said it will restate downward its 2000 results.

Network equipment maker 3Com dived nearly 18%, down $1.63 at $7.50, after warning that a slump in demand for its products will cause third-quarter profits and revenue to miss expectations. Earlier this week, it announced 1,200 layoffs.

Meanwhile, non-tech, blue chips were mixed. Wal-Mart fell $1.75 to $48.34, but Ford rose 40 cents to $28.21.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Volume was 1.28 billion shares, ahead of the 1.17 billion at the same point Wednesday.