NEW YORK. Nov 10. Slocks skidded yesterday hut moved ofl their lows for the day as investors nervously watched the still-undecided US presidential race, reports AFP.

The Dow Jones industrials fell 72.81 |K>ints (0.67 per cent) to 10.834.25 while the Nasdaq slipped 31.35 points (0.97 per cent) Io 3.200.35.

The broader Standard and Poor's 500 declined 9.15 points (0.65 percent) to 1.400.13.

The Nasdaq had been down by 144 points and the Dow by 290 points amid investor jitters over the unresolved election result in Florida preventing either Republican George W Bush or Democrat /XI Gore from being declared the next US president.

"Uncertainly is not good for the markets." said Byron Wien, duel economist for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.

Wetherly Securities Equities strategist Barry Hyman said the selling intensified sharply in midanernoon after Gore campaign chainnan William Daley said the campaign will support lawsuits brought by Florida voters stemming from alleged improprieties in tabulating bal-

lots in that stale

' It's the Indecision that's bothering the market." Hyman said. The whole political proc ess could be held up. The gm eminent could be held up We could reach a stalemate."

However. bargain-hunters entered the market and snapped up stocks that had fallen to attractively cheap lev els. enabling the market to close off its worst levels of the session.

DA Davidson chief market strategist James Volk predicted the uncertain tone in the market will persist until the matter is resolved.

The market would not rally, even if Bush is-declared winner now. because the Gore campaign will tight it and it appears that were in for a protracted legal battle "

IBM closed down 9/16 at 99-7/16 after company executives said at an analysts' meeting that revenue growth will be below what some Investors had expected -- below the 20 per cent mark.

Dell closed down 1-15 16 at 28-3/8 ahead of its expected release of weak quarterly re-

sults.

As <1 result, the entire PC manufacturing sector ended lower amid concerns over slower demand.

Hewlett-Packard closed down 2-3/4 at 42-15'16. and Compaq fell 2.24 at 27.11.

Semiconductors were also under pressure. Applied Materials fell 1 /16 to 43-3/8, Texas Instruments 7/16 at 41-7/8. and Micron Technology fell 2-3/16 to 32-9/16.

The media sector traded broadly lower after Industry bellwethers Disney. which closed down 5-3/4 at 31-1/8. and News Corp, down 5-1/8 at 38. issued earnings. which were below expectations.

The US producer price index rose 0.4 per cent in October from the previous month when analysts had expected Just 0.2 per cent, another indication of unease. Excluding food and energy costs, the index fell 0.1 per cent.

On the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond eased to 5.808 per cent from 5.850 per cent Wednesday and on the 30-year bond to 5.854 per cent from 5.878 per cent on Wednesday