NEW YORK - Wall Street shares ended mixed Monday with the Dow blue-chip index making a failed run toward 11,000, as investors shifted into technology stocks that had been lagging in recent weeks.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average, after flirting with the 11,000 level, ended with a modest loss of 3.69 points (0.03 percent) at 10,936.86.
The key index rose as high as 10,984.46 during the session, but was hit by profit taking. The Dow has not been above 11,000 since June 2000.
Investors however pushed the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite up 19.60 points (0.95 percent) to 2,090.21 and the broad-market Standard and Poor's 500 index gained 3.19 points (0.26 percent) to close at 1,225.31.
Weighing on blue chips was news that Harry Stonecipher, chief executive officer of aerospace giant and Dow component Boeing Co., was asked to leave following an investigation of a "personal relationship" between Stonecipher and a "female executive of the company, who did not report directly to him."
Some analysts said the mixed performance of the market was simply a matter of investors shifting to technology after other sectors had become more expensive.
"Tech's been one of the underperforming lagging sectors, and I think there clearly seems to be some money coming into all facets of it -- storage software, hardware, semis, the whole bit," said Tim Heekin, head of stock trading at Thomas Weisel Partners.
He called Monday's trading "a classic rotational day."
"It's not unexpected to see a little bit of profit taking but I think the fact that we are holding just about even with Friday's close is a positive in itself," said Robert Pavlik portfolio manager at Oaktree Asset Management.
The Dow had climbed to its best level in nearly four years Friday, closing at 10,940.
European stock markets were mixed as investors mulled the withdrawal of a bid by Deutsche Boerse for the London Stock Exchange.
The London FTSE 100 index dropped 0.18 percent to 5,027.02, the Frankfurt DAX 30 gained 0.10 percent to 4,428.09, and the Paris CAC 40 added 0.40 percent to 4,108.0.
The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares rose 0.25 percent to 3,114.54.
In New York, the tech sector was strong. Intel jumped 43 cents to 25.11, Texas Instruments advanced 48 cents to 27.37 and Micron Technology lifted 17 cents to 10.93.
Boeing meanwhile shed eight cents to 58.30 after the shakeup that leaves unclear who will run the world's biggest aerospace company.
Elsewhere in the sector Rockwell Collins rose 17 cents to 47.90 after it agreed to buy German military aviation electronic products group Teldix GmbH from Northrop Grumman in a deal valuing Teldix at 94 million dollars. Northrop added 17 cents to 54.06.
United Defense Industries rocketed up 15.09 or 25 percent to 73.35 after the maker of Bradley tanks agreed to be bought by BAE Systems, Europe's largest defense contractor.
In the banking group, Capital One Financial fell 2.08 to 76.00 after it agreed to a 5.3 billion dollar deal to buy Louisiana-based Hibernia Corp., which surged 5.67 or 21 percent to 32.24.
Bonds held firm. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond dipped to 4.304 percent from 4.310 percent Friday and that on the 30-year bond to 4.618 percent from 4.650 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
03/07/2005 22:17 GMT