Wall Street: Wednesday close

THE more Wall Street chewed over Fed head Alan Greenspan's cautious comments to Congress the less it liked them. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, higher by 140 points at one point, finished the day up just 12.32 points or 0.12% to 10,127.58. The Nasdaq Index closed the session down 14.98 points or 0.86% to 1,751.88, 42 points off its intra-day high.

Analysts said the slow fade started after investors digested Federal Reserve Board Chairman Greenspan's warning that a 'subdued' economic recovery would fall short of Wall Street expectations and possibly postpone a widely anticipated rebound in company profits. 'In the past several months, increasing signs have emerged that some of the forces that have been restraining the economy over the past year are starting to diminish and that activity is beginning to firm,' Greenspan told the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee.

'People are realizing the recovery will not be that fast,' said Howard Kornblue, portfolio manager at fund management firm ING Pilgrim. 'Maybe they were a little bit more optimistic, thinking Greenspan was going to make it appear the recovery was going to be sooner rather than later. But as they digested the comments, they realized it will take more time.'

Greenspan's comments helped spur the early rally, as did Government data showing orders for durable goods rising 2.6% last month, their third straight gain. The figures were taken as a sign that the manufacturing sector, which led the US economy into recession, might be stabilising.

But many of the initial gains were trimmed or zapped altogether before the closing bell. American Express closed ahead 53 cents or 1.5% to $35.77, Boeing added 75 cents or 1.7% to $45.90, Citigroup climbed 44 cents or 1% to $44.24 and General Electric regained 18 cents or 0.5% to $38.75. Wal-Mart approached its all-time of $62.85 before closing ahead a fraction at $62.22.

Tech stocks participated in the early rally, but negative broker comments about Intel and Cisco Systems helped erode their gains. Intel was among issues surrendering a substantial early advance. Intel shares slipped 13 cents or 0.4% to $29.89. Cisco plummeted $1.26 or 8.1% to $14.24. Microsoft came off 16 cents or 0.3% to $58.39.

ImClone Systems, which has been battered over data submitted to US regulators in support of its colon cancer drug, soared $5.01 or 32.3% to $20.53 after it asked the Food and Drug Administration to accept detailed research completed in Europe. Bristol Myers-Squibb, ImClone's US partner and a major shareholder, rose $1.98 or 4.4% to $47.49.

Radio station operator Clear Channel Communications slumped $2.16 or 4.4% to $46.93 after it said that slowing ad sales had hurt its bottom line. Fashion retailer The Gap slumped $1.15 or 8.5% to $12.40, down from $30 a year ago, as its results disappointed investors.