US stocks ended mixed yesterday as investors switched out of technology companies on fears that their earnings growth may be poised to slow and moved into more traditional and cheaper sectors, such as consumer products.

Concerns that more than a year's worth of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve will hurt profitability, particularly in the technology sector, continued to dog Wall Street, analysts said. "Old economy" manufacturing companies, such as auto giant General Motors and Coca-Cola, gained as investors breathed a sigh of relief over benign economic data and took refuge in companies that are seen as less vulnerable to stock market volatility. Among the leading technology issues to drop was Intel, which lost $2.13 to $64.63 (€70.01). fell 3.83 percent. Meanwhile, the most heavily traded stock on the Nasdaq for the second day in a row was Cisco Systems, which slipped $2.25 to $63.19 (€68.45).