The Nasdaq composite index pushed to a new record close today as the promise of strong corporate earnings pumped up technology stocks.

At the close of trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 1.58 at 10,648.18, having given up an earlier gain of as much as 69 points. Traders said the modest performance was somewhat expected after last week, when the Dow gained almost 377 points in its best performance in three months.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a nine-to-eight margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,558 down, 1,391 up and 556 unchanged.

NYSE volume totalled 653.75 million shares at the close against 893.37 million in the previous session.

The Russell 2,000 index of smaller companies rose 2.48 to 430.19.

Nasdaq, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, benefited from strong performances from both industry leaders and high-flying newcomers.

Intel rose on speculation it will report strong earnings tomorrow.