US technology stocks fell for the third straight day yesterday, ending a rollercoaster session with the prevailing theme of earnings anxiety, though blue chips edged higher after recent heavy selling, led by oldline industrial stocks like Caterpillar.

Amid very heavy trading volume, the Dow Jones Industrial average added 0.29 per cent to close at 9,513.66, while the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 35.20 points, to 1,637.80.

"The indices are moving all over the place and that's what happens when they are searching for a bottom," said Stanley Nabi, managing director of Credit Suisse Asset Management, which oversees about $107 billion. "I think a lot of work has to be done still by the averages to get to a bottom, but we will get there eventually - this quarter, maybe even this month."