TECH STOCKS: Swapping Techs For Blue ChipsTECH STOCKS: Swapping Techs For Blue Chips

Plunging technology and telecommunications stocks pulled the Nasdaq down more than 1% Thursday and our own information index down 1.7%. Investors appeared to cash in some of their tech-sector holdings, which have risen sharply in recent weeks, and moved their money into blue-chip stocks.

Lucent Technologies plunged more than 8% to $4.05 after Smith Barney Citigroup downgraded its stock. AT&T fell 4% to $20.40, and Nortel Networks was down more than 7% to $6.34. A number of chip stocks were down, including Intel, which fell nearly 2% to $31.63. And Microsoft, which reported earnings after the market closed, slipped 1% to $28.01.

The Nasdaq-100 tracking stock fell 25 cents to $38.13 on moderate trading volume of more than 79 million shares.

On the bright side, the Labor Department reported that the number of Americans filing new unemployment claims last week fell to 341,000 from 342,000 the week before, beating economists' expectations for a slight increase.

Our information 100 index fell 5.74 points to close at 343.03, while the Nasdaq fell 23.44 points, or 1.1%, to close at 2,119.01. The Dow industrials were virtually unchanged, falling 0.44 points to close at 10,623.18, while the S&P 500 fell 3.68 points, or 0.3%, to finish the day at 1,143.94.