Blue chip stocks surged yesterday but technology issues fell back after an earnings warning from National Semiconductor revived worries about hi-tech profits. The latest batch of earnings reports received a mixed reception from investors, and spurred no major buying or selling.

Investors remained focused on Amazon.Com, Nortel and Compaq, which were due to report their results after the market closed.

The third-quarter earnings season does not wrap up for another week, but analysts do not expect upcoming numbers to move the market the way IBM's disappointing results did last week, sending the Dow down more than 400 points during last Wednesday's trading.

Chip makers Intel and Advanced Micro Devices fell, while Microsoft, a Dow component, slipped.