Wall Street Technology shares close lower in thin, cautious trade

SAN FRANCISCO (AFX) - Prices of technology shares closed lower in thin volumes as investors moved to the sidelines to assess the implications of a rally which has seen the Nasdaq rise just under 400 points since March 1, dealers said.	    The Nasdaq composite closed down 17.99 at 2,173.54 while the Nasdaq 100 fell 28.41 to 1,895.40.	    The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index slipped 8.52 to close at 631.01.	    In the wider market, the DJIA was 16.07 weaker at 10,935.17 while the S&P 500 index dropped 3.11 to 1,263.50. 	    According to Jim Waggoner, a market strategist with Sands Brothers & Co, the day's move was "more a pause than a pullback".	    "The Nasdaq has been blessed with a lot of money inflows over the last few weeks, and investors need to digest this rally," he said.	    "We are very much in a holding phase now and are waiting for something to stir things up a little."	    He said among the key drivers for the market over the short term will be figures from Cisco Systems, due tomorrow, and PPI data, due Friday. 	    As a bellwether for the entire sector, Cisco's third-quarter figures will be seen as key to gauging the prospects for a recovery in the IT industry, Waggoner said.	    Cisco, which is expected to post profits of 2 cents a share after the market close tomorrow, was down 0.39 at 19.25.	    Among other movers was Lucent, which fell 0.69 to 10.46 after the struggling telecommunications equipment maker announced it had dismissed its chief financial officer Deborah Hopkins.	    Elsewhere, news of 3,000 job cuts at 3Com sent its shares lower, with the stock closing 0.38 down at 6.52.	    Dell closed up 0.07 usd at 25.91. The company after the closing bell said it will meet its first-quarter sales and EPS forecasts but warned that slowing demand for PCs will see it cut 3,000 to 4,000 full-time jobs over the next two quarters.

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