Technology stocks were clobbered yesterday by profit warnings from computer software makers. The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 77.07 points, or 0.72 per cent, at 10,483.60.

The Nasdaq composite index plummeted 128.83 points, or 3.22 per cent, to 3,863.10 with Intel, the world's largest computer-chip maker, weighing on the technology-heavy index. Intel fell $5.25 to $131.62 1/2. The Standard and Poor index was down 23.09 points at 1,446.23.

Investors had little to celebrate as they returned from the Independence Day holiday after three software companies informed Wall Street their earnings would fall short of previous projections. Among them was business software maker Computer Associates International, which fell more than 40 per cent. Blue-chip shares, struggled just south of the breakeven point, weighed down by computer giant International Business Machines but underpinned by gains in old-line shares.