Wall Street: Tuesday close

FALLING confidence on Main Street USA caused worry lines on Wall Street after two straight days of gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, up more 300 points in the past two sessions, fell 30.45 points or 0.30% to 10,115.26. The Nasdaq Index, which had leapt 2.6% on Monday, gave up 3.02 points or 0.17% to 1,766.86.

Traders attributed the decline to a Conference Board survey showing that US consumer confidence, which had been climbing since the 11 September terror attacks, suddenly reversed course in February. The private research group's index, at a five-month high of 97.8 in January, dipped to 94.1 in February, well below economists' expectations. Economists worried that the consumer, a mainstay of the US economy through the manufacturing-led recession, could be drawing back in the face of the Enron accounting scandal, continuing job lay-offs and share investments which have not appreciated in the past two years.

Rumors that US troops were in Iraq also nettled investors, although the Pentagon quickly scotched that speculation. And Enron executives were back on TV as Congressional hearings resumed into the biggest bankruptcy in US history.

Among the biggest Dow losers were AT&T, off 30 cents or 2% to $15.20, Walt Disney, down 33 cents or 1.4% to $23.89, and do-it-yourself chain Home Depot, lower by 56 cents or 1% to $51.17. Two Blue Chips caught up in the accounting flap were also on the back foot. IBM eased $1.15 or 1.2% to $97.15 and General Electric came off 45 cents or 1.2% to $38.75.

Cyclical shares which had drawn support through the recent accounting-related sell- off gave back some of their gains with 3M, the maker of Scotch Tape, slipping $1.15 or 1% to $119.30. Procter & Gamble was marked down 87 cents or 1% to $86.50.

Techs were mixed to lower with Hewlett-Packard up fractionally at $20.01 and Intel giving back $1 or 3.2% to $30.02 after recent strong gains.

Electronics manufacturer Flextronics lost 94 cents or 5.9% to $15.05 as its outlook was trimmed. Retail chain Pier 1 jumped $1.83 or 10.4% to $19.40 as it raised its sales and profit forecasts. Fellow retailer Federated Department Stores surged $2.64 or 6.8% to $41.66 after quarterly results topped forecasts.