TECH STOCKS: Inauspicious End Of Glorious QuarterTECH STOCKS: Inauspicious End Of Glorious Quarter

Monday was a sour note for the markets' best quarter in more than four years. All our indexes closed slightly down on volatile, low-volume trading.

Technology stocks, which have benefited from the stock market run-up, were generally down Monday. Semiconductor stocks were the exception, led by Intel's 2% gain after Smith Barney upgraded its outlook for the company. A weekend report that worldwide chip sales rose 2% in May on a sequential basis also helped. The Nasdaq-100 tracking stock (QQQ) closed at $29.90, up 7 cents, or 0.2%. Just shy of 70 million shares of the tracking stock were traded.

Investors continue to watch closely for any sign of which way the economy is turning. The June Chicago Purchasing Managers Index was up to 52.5—not as much as some economists had expected, but any number above 50 indicates expansion in the manufacturing sector.

Our information 100 fell 2.2 points, or 0.9%, Monday to close at 248.62, while the Nasdaq fell 2.45 points, or 0.2%, to 1,622.81. The Dow fell 3.61 points, or 0.04%, to close at 8,985.44, while the S&P 500 fell 1.72 points, or 0.2%, to 974.5.