US stocks flat before July 4 celebrations

Wall Street has stalled, held back by a fresh round of earnings warnings and decreased trading activity ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 22.41 at 10,571.31, while the Nasdaq slipped 10.51 to 2,138.21.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 2.23 to 1,234.48, and the Russell 2000 fell 1.56 to 496.83.

James Meyer, director of research at Janney Montgomery Scott, said: "It'll probably be more productive today on the golf course than on the trading floor."

DuPont fell 92 cents to $47.20 after sharply curtailing its earnings estimate for the second quarter, blaming a global economic slowdown and a strong dollar.

Earnings worries also hurt technology stocks. Axsys Technologies fell 17 cents to $10.74 after reducing its second quarter outlook and slashing 9% of its work force because of soft demand for products.

In the software sector, BroadVision dropped 89 cents to $4.04 after lowering its second-quarter revenue forecast and expanding loss estimates.

Even a new Commerce Department report today showing US factory orders rebounding in May to their best performance in nearly a year failed to inspire investors.

After the EU blocked General Electric's $41 billion purchase of Honeywell International, citing competitive concerns, GE slipped 80 cents to $49.40, while Honeywell rose 99 cents to $35.10 following a report that the board of directors was to replace chief executive and chairman Michael Bonsignore.

Advancing issues led decliners 4 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange in quiet trading. Volume finished the session at 621.19 million shares, compared with 1.11 billion shares on Monday, when trading ended at 4pm.