Dow Closes Lower, Nasdaq Posts Small Gain

Updated from 3:25 p.m. EDT

Blue-chips closed slightly lower but tech stocks managed to eke out a small gain while U.S. and British forces launched military strikes in Afghanistan for a second day.

Preliminary closing numbers showed the Dow Jones Industrial Average with a loss of 56.67 points, or 0.6%, to 9063.10. The Nasdaq was up 0.21 points to 1605.51, while the S&P 500 was down 9.31 points, or 0.9%, to 1062.07.

Around midday, U.S. and British forces began military strikes against targets in Afghanistan for the second consecutive day. Reuters said Monday that at least 20 people were reported killed during seven hours of raids by the U.S. and its allies on Sunday, although it wasn't clear if they were civilians. The Taliban said Osama bin Laden survived the raids. The action unsettled markets around the world, but Europe's bourses ended mixed. Asia's exchanges were primarily lower.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was down 3 points to 5033, while the German DAX was up 7 points at 4495. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 310 points, or 3%, to 9968, but Tokyo's Nikkei was unchanged at 10,206. The dollar was lower against the Swiss franc, the yen and the euro.

Cisco(CSCO Quote) ended down 4 cents to $14.90, following a preopen session in which the shares of the networking giant took a hit. Nextel(NXTL Quote) fell 69 cents, or 7.9%, to $8.05. Earlier this morning, Merrill Lynch downgraded the communications firm to neutral from accumulate.

AT&T Wireless(AWE Quote) agreed to buy the 77% of TeleCorp PCS(TLCP Quote) it doesn't already own in a $4.7 billion stock and debt deal, while Enron(ENE Quote) agreed to sell its Portland General utility to Northwest Natural Gas(NWN Quote) for $1.88 billion. AT&T Wireless dropped 65 cents, or 4%, to $15.47. Enron gained 5.6% to $33.49.