Stocks finished lower yesterday as concerns about blue-chip earnings estimates triggered late selling on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Dow fell 18.90 points to close at 7,957.41. The drop, which followed a nearly 60-point gain earlier in the day, cut short two days of gains.

The market got an early morning boost from Japanese Prime Minister Mr Ryutaro Hashimoto's surprise proposal for special income tax cuts. The announcement helped soothe worries over the effect of the Asian crisis on US businesses.

But investors began to fear poor earnings showings by blue-chip companies after a disappointing announcement by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 5-to-4 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,656 up, 1,304 down and 512 unchanged.

NYSE volume totalled 617.86 million shares against 632.32 million in the previous session.