Wall Street: Wednesday close

A warning to sellers from actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was not enough to terminate Wall Street's four-day losing streak. 'Hasta la vista, baby, to the bears,' said Schwarzenegger, as he rung the opening bell from high above the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange. But the caution from the star of The Terminator and Conan the Barbarian brought only a passing cheer from traders as shares retreated to November levels on sagging confidence in American corporate accounting and a bleak outlook for profits.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which had topped 10,000 last month in a snapback from September lows, stumbled 32.04 points or 0.33% to 9,653.39. The Nasdaq Index, which opened at its lowest level since November 12, shed 25.79 points or 1.40% to 1,812.73.

An early bounce in techs from the premature release of an upbeat report from network gear maker Cisco Systems faded within the first hour of trading. Cisco, which rushed out a statement saying that it would top profit estimates after an executive emailed to colleagues details of a report not due out until after the close of trading, saw its shares rise 11 cents or 0.6% to $18.61. The shares gained a further 4% in after-hours trading when the company detailed its latest quarterly results.

Techs generally were lower. Microsoft dipped 75 cents or 1.2% to $60.40. Intel slipped 88 cents or 2.6% to $32.92.

Companies under the accounting cloud in the wake of Enron's collapse were mostly firmer. Tyco International, which has lost $60bn. in market value since 1 January, rebounded $2.82 or 12.2% to $25.92 after it denied it had cash problems and said it could sell assets. Irish pharmaceutical company Elan closed steady at $14.

Energy supplier Calpine dropped $1.95 or 22.3% to $6.80 after it confirmed that the Securities and Exchange Commission had launched an informal investigation into possible selective disclosure of some company information. Telco WorldCom, which has been pressured by concerns about its liquidity, slid another 28 cents or 4% to $6.69.

Bleak reports from a couple of big consumer names knocked sentiment. Wheaties maker General Mills tumbled $5.16 or 11% to $53.55 after it warned that its profits would not be up to snuff and PepsiCo shed $1.71 or 3.4% to $49.10 as it expressed concern about its sales outlook. DaimlerChrysler dropped 97 cents or 2.6% to $37.01 after it cut its dividend and pushed back the timeline to meet its profit targets.

Financial services shares were mixed, with American Express off $1.60 or 4.6% to $32.90 and JP Morgan recovering 42 cents or 1.5% to $29.33.

ExxonMobil edged up 59 cents or 1.5% to $38.92 in a stronger oil sector. AOL Time Warner, which received a broker upgrade on Tuesday after touching multi-year lows, added 69 cents or 2.9% to $24.29.