While GE, which posted earnings in line with Wall Street estimates, is regarded to be a gauge of the overall economy because of the conglomerate's diverse businesses, the threat of increased violence in Iraq and possible consequences from terrorism kept investors from making large bets.

In that atmosphere of caution, General Electric shares rose only a penny, closing at $31.41.

Trading was quiet and volume light, with many investors and traders taking time off for the holidays. The market was scheduled to close for Good Friday.

For the week, the Dow lost 0.3 percent, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both fell 0.2 percent. The losses followed the market's best week of 2004.

Yesterday's session marked the first day of trading under a new roster for the Dow. AIG Inc., Pfizer Inc. and Verizon Communications replaced Eastman Kodak Co., International Paper Co. and AT&T Corp. in the index.

The new Dow components were expected to fare well.

However, with the afternoon downturn, AIG closed 2 cents higher at $76.27, Pfizer dropped 7 cents to $35.60, and Verizon was unchanged at $37.31.

Of the departing stocks, AT&T Corp. slipped 29 cents to $19.23, International Paper fell 39 cents to $42.01 and Kodak dropped 5 cents to $25.44.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by more than 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 1.52 billion shares, compared with 1.87 billion on Wednesday.