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US stocks fell on Wednesday, leaving the Dow and the Nasdaq with their first quarterly losses in a year, after disappointing reports on factory orders and business conditions in the US Midwest raised fears about the economic rebound's staying power.
Wednesday marked the end of this year's first quarter. It was the Dow's first losing quarter since the first quarter of 2003, and the Nasdaq's first down quarter since the third quarter of 2002. The broader S&P 500 notched a slight gain.
Cisco Systems and Microsoft Corp were the biggest drags on the S&P 500, while Hewlett Packard Co was the Dow's biggest percentage decliner.
In Nasdaq trading, Cisco fell 36 cents or 1.50 percent to $23.57, while Microsoft declined 27 cents or 1.07 percent to $24.93. Hewlett-Packard shed 29 cents or 1.25 percent to end at $22.84 on the New York Stock Exchange.
After the close, Starbucks Corp shares rose after it reported sales at company-operated stores open at least a year rose 12 percent in March from a year ago.
Shares of Starbucks, the world's largest coffee shop chain, rose to $38.00 on the Inet electronic brokerage from their Nasdaq close of $37.87.
"There was some disappointment in the Purchasing Managers' survey and factory orders," said Milton Ezrati, senior economic strategist at Lord Abbett & Co "It wasn't bad data, but it was disappointing, and reinforces any economic bears out there." A survey of business conditions in the Chicago area showed that overall business activity expanded for the 11th straight month in March, but at a much slower pace than expected. The National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago said its index of Midwest business conditions fell to 57.6 in March from 63.6 in February.
Separately, the Commerce Department said new orders at US factories rose slightly in February, though demand fell far short of Wall Street expectations.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 24.00 points, or 0.23 percent, at 10,357.70. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 0.79 of a point, or 0.07 percent, to 1,126.21. The Nasdaq Composite Index gave up 6.41 points, or 0.32 percent, to 1,994.22.
For the quarter, the blue chip Dow fell 0.92 percent and the technology-laden Nasdaq fell 0.46 percent, but the broader Standard & Poor's 500 average rose 1.29 percent.
In a worrisome sign for the job picture, the employment component of the Chicago PMI fell sharply to 49.2 in March from 54.8 in February. A number below 50 indicates contraction.
Shares of Circuit City, whose lower expenses helped its earnings gain despite a lacklustre sales rise, added 60 cents, or 5.6 percent, to $11.30. It also announced a $284 million purchase of a Canadian rival InterTan, as it looks to battle Best Buy, which also owns a Canadian electronics chain.
On the Nasdaq, QLogic Corp was the biggest percentage loser, a day after it lowered its quarterly outlook due to a decline in expected orders for computer networking equipment. Shares of QLogic, which makes computer storage equipment, fell $9.69, or 22.7 percent, to $33.00.

Copyright Reuters, 2004

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