Wall Street report: Tues close

MARKETS extended their losing streak after

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which dropped 120 points on Monday in the midst of a telecom meltdown, fell another 47.19 points or 0.47% to 10,089.24. The Nasdaq Index slipped 28.38 points or 1.61% to 1,730.30. It was the fourth straight day of losses for the Dow and the fifth in a row for the Nasdaq.

ExxonMobil said its profits plunged nearly 60% from the same quarter a year ago when it reported an eye-popping record profit of $5bn. Analysts said the profit drop was caused by tighter oil refining margins in Europe and Asia and that other major oil groups including BP, Shell and ChevronTexaco would feel the pinch as well.

ExxonMobil shares fell 50 cents or 1.2% to $41.35, but analysts said the drop would have been greater had not the company flagged improving conditions due to higher recent oil prices as a result of Mideast tension.

BP's US shares traded down 47 cents or 0.9% to $51.25, Royal Dutch Shell slipped 74 cents or 1.4% to $53.14 and ChevronTexaco finished fractionally higher at $86.98.

Telecoms were mixed after Monday's carnage. Encouraging news from the wireless sector helped bring in buyers to certain sub-sectors. AT&T Wireless jumped 84 cents or 10.4% to $8.94 after it reported a narrower quarterly loss than expected and Verizon Communications closed a tad higher at $40.14 as it met analyst expectations.

Telco equipment maker Lucent recovered five cents or 1.1% to $4.54. But mobile phone maker Nokia eased another 12 cents or 0.7% to $16,.18 and rival Ericsson, down 22.6% on Monday after warning that it saw no improvement through year's end, slumped another 25 cents or 9% to $2.49. And WorldCom, which lost a third of its market value in the previous session as its cut its financial projections, was marked down another 50 cents or 15% to $3.41.

Online retailer Amazon.com fell 25 cents or 1.8% to $14.06 in regular trading, but jumped to $14.98 in extended hours as it reported a 21% jump in sales and a narrower than expected quarterly loss.

Among Dow components, DuPont was trimmed $1.51 or 3.3% to $44.84 as its quarterly report failed to enthuse, Coca-Cola was lower by 78 cents or 1.4% to $54.52 and McDonald's tacked on 27 cents or 1% to $28.77.