Blue-chip stocks gave back strong early gains in the final hour of yesterday's session on the New York stock exchange to close lower on the day, after investors sold their holdings to lock in profits.

At the close of trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 19.31 at 9,335.91. The Dow got as high as 9,480.09, up nearly 125, before sellers stepped in late in the session. Technology stocks, meanwhile, pushed broad indexes sharply higher until profit-taking set in in the final hour. The Nasdaq composite still managed to close higher on the day, setting a new record for the second day in a row. The S and P 500 also closed higher.

The Standard and Poor's 500 rose 4.61 to 1,256.61, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 7.41 to 2,415.58.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by 1,593 to 1,476 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 507 unchanged.