Investors show signs of nerves

Blue-chip stocks posted only modest losses yesterday, recovering from a third straight day of profit-taking from the market's record-setting rebound.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 69 points - or by 0.8 per cent - at 9,064.54, bouncing back from a slide below 9,000 for the second day in a row.

The Standard and Poor's 500 fell 4.03 to 1,171.25, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 8.55 to 1,995.20.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 9-to-7 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,341 up, 1,740 down and 477 unchanged. Nasdaq gainers trailed by a 6-to-5 ratio.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 1.25 to 397.49.