THE Dow Jones index of bluechips was down slightly yesterday, brought down by sell offs in high technology and airline stocks.

Losses were limited, however, because of lower interest rates on the bond market.

The Dow lost 8.50 points (0.15 per cent), closing at 5,649.45. About 388 million shares traded hands. There were 1,304 losers, 1,003 gainers and 785 stocks were unchanged.

The interest rate on bellweather 30 year Treasury bonds was down from 7.12 per cent on Thursday to 7.09 per cent due to a technical correction. On Wall Street, investors continued to unload high technology stocks.