Wall Street report: Monday close

ANOTHER slide in the world's highest valued company weighed on Wall Street as investors awaited Alan Greenspan's take on the state of the economic recovery.

Light bulbs to power plant maker General Electric, which plunged more than $30bn (£20bn) in market value last week after its quarterly report disappointed investors, dropped another $1.70 or 5% to $31.85, its lowest since September.

The slide, apparently prompted by worries that GE has not satisfactorily answered questions about its accounting and concerns that its growth is slowing, sliced the group's market value to $316bn, just $14bn ahead of software powerhouse Microsoft.

GE's woes helped drive the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 97.15 points or 1% to 10,093.67. The Nasdaq Index was off 2.38 points at 1753.81.

Analysts said markets could mark time until Wednesday, when Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, is due to testify before Congress. Greenspan could shed light on mixed economic data, which appears to show that an end-of-winter surge out of recession might have evolved into a false spring. Consumer confidence has been sapped by rising oil prices, Middle East conflict and growing doubts about corporate accounts following Enron's collapse.

Hewlett-Packard did not help confidence by disclosing that both the US Attorney's office in New York and the Securities and Exchange Commission were investigating the controversial shareholder vote to approve its friendly merger with Compaq Computer. HP shares, marked way down since the merger was announced, were slightly higher at $17.88. Compaq's shares rose 12 cents or 1.2% to $10.10.

Ebbing confidence in a profit rebound hit some major components of the Dow. Alcoa fell 62 cents or 1.7% to $36.71, Boeing gave up 90 cents or 1.9% to $47.65, Coca-Cola shed 97 cents or 1.8% to $52.39 and Wal-Mart retreated $1.30 or 2.1% to $59.93.

Citigroup dipped $1.18 or 2.5% to $45.92 after its quarterly numbers fell short of expectations. JP Morgan Chase closed fractionally higher at $34.40 on a broker upgrade.

Techs fared better, although the sector surrendered some early gains. Microsoft lost 24 cents or 0.5% to $55.69 and Intel fell 28 cents or 1% to $28.11. Internet stocks were selectively sought, with Amazon.com climbing 58 cents or 4.4% to $13.89.

Oils benefited from stronger petroleum prices. ExxonMobil finished ahead 30 cents or 0.7% at $41.60.