TECH STOCKS: Saddam Rally Fades Fast

The capture of Saddam Hussein gave the markets a boost on Monday--but not for long. Wall Street finished lower as disappointing sales at Wal-Mart eroded early gains.

Stocks traded briskly around the globe on news that Saddam was in custody, but the rally didn't last long on Wall Street. The major indexes steadily fell as investors refocused on the domestic picture. Analysts weren't surprised by the limited effect the news of Saddam's capture had on the markets.

"This is a geopolitical event that gave us a nice, short-term blip, but it wasn't the kind of news that would drive us to even loftier levels," Brian Williamson, an equity trader at The Boston Company Asset Management, told The Associated Press. "The war is by no means over; this is just one piece of the puzzle, and not a cause for a huge end-of-war celebration."

The Dow Jones industrials fell 19.34, or 0.2%, to 10,022.82. Other indexes also declined. The InformationWeek 100 fell 6.11 points, or 2%, to 299.32. The Nasdaq composite index fell 30.74, or 1.6%, to 1,918.26, after surging nearly 1% earlier in the day. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 6.10, or 0.6%, to 1,068.04. The Nasdaq 100 tracking stock fell 46 cents to $34.78, as more than 105.3 million shares changed hands.

Oracle closed down 13 cents at $12.70 but rose in after-hours trading after its quarterly earnings report beat analysts' expectations by a penny. The software company, which disclosed the results after the market closed, said profits were up on rising demand for its business software.