Wall Street shares close lower after tranquil session

Share prices closed moderately lower after a session that was unusually tranquil by recent standards and caused some optimists to ponder whether the recently chaotic market could be approaching a sustainable bottom, dealers said.

The DJIA closed down 82.24 points at 7,702.34, after a relatively tame day, in contrast to Monday when it closed below the 8,000 level for the first time since 1998 after a heavy selloff and to Friday when it lost more than 400 points.

The S&P 500 ended down 22.15 at 799.70 and the Nasdaq composite down 53.60 at 1,229.05.

Volume on the NYSE was extremely heavy at 2.4 billion shares. The day's session marked the third in a row that NYSE volumes exceeded 2 billion shares.

Dealers said all the major indices had higher openings due to selective bargain-hunting after recent selloffs, but the Nasdaq composite and S&P later lost their lead to trade mildly lower.

By late afternoon the DJIA also had lost its gains, but market watchers were not overly upset with the decline because the day's losses were modest by recent standards.

Technical strategists have been hoping for the market to stage a final and climactic selloff, which would create a secure bottom from which the market can rebuild itself.

The market's action did not provide strong clues as to when the selloffs might end and one observer described the trading pattern as "back and forth".

Prudential Securities technical analyst Ralpha Accampora described shares as being "very oversold at this time."

However, he also said "some of the worst selloffs have come about when the market is oversold."

Accampora also said it is a source of concern that even "pretty" shares - ones not impacted by negative news developments or poor fundamentals - are coming under pressure at this time.

The financial sector experienced extremely heavy losses due to a news story in the Wall Street Journal that Citigroup Inc and JP Morgan Chase & Co, already facing scrutiny for devising allegedly deceptive transactions for Enron Corp, marketed similarly structured deals to other companies.