SHARE prices on the New York Stock Exchange plummeted 3 per cent yesterday in a massive sell off of high tech shares ahead of quarterly results likely to be sharply weaker than expected.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average of blue chips lost 161.05 points, or 2.9 per cent, to finish the session at 5349.51. That was the steepest slide since the 171.24 point drop on March 8th. The Dow has now shed 7.4 per cent from the record 5778.00 close set May 22nd.

Circuit breakers checking computerised trading were activated at least twice during the day.

Some 421 million shares changed hands, with losers out numbering gainers 2,129 to 410 and 611 issues were unchanged.

The Nasdaq staged a precipitous 43.90 point plunge, the equivalent of a 220 point drop in the Dow.

It now is down more than 15 per cent from its June 5th record.