Technology stocks fell Tuesday, while the broader market ended little changed, as investors considered pessimistic notes from the last Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting and positive economic reports. For the month of August, the three major indexes declined, with the Dow industrials losing about 4.3 percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 index falling 4.7 percent, and the Nasdaq declining 6.2 percent. Stocks gained early in the session on a bigger-than-expected improvement in U.S. consumer confidence and a jump in U.S. home prices, but investor tone turned negative after the Fed released notes from its August 10 meeting. The notes raised worries that the central bank may not take steps to support the weakening economic recovery unless conditions deteriorate significantly. In economic news, consumer confidence improved in August, mostly due to an improvement in how consumers view the short-term economic outlook. However, the weak job market continues to darken their long-term view. A second report showed U.S. home prices jumped 3.6 percent over the past 12 months and 4.4 percent in the second quarter following a 2.8 percent decline in the first quarter. The U.S. dollar fell slightly versus the euro and yen. Light sweet crude oil for October delivery fell $3 to $71.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures gained $11.10 to $1,250.30 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 4.99, or 0.05 percent, to 10,014.72. The broader S&P 500 index was little changed, rising 0.41 to 1,049.33. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 5.94, or 0.3 percent, to 2,114.03. Shares of 3PAR rose 0.8 percent as most analysts and investors expect that Dell will quit the bidding war with Hewlett-Packard for the data-storage company.
