WALL Street stocks were led lower by technology shares yesterday amid renewed concerns about the health of personal computer sales in the US.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 14.09 points at 5,655.42 after a late rise in bonds prompted institutional buying in the stock market, trimming a mid afternoon loss of 52 points.

The sell off of computer issues started on Tuesday when Cirrus Logic said it expected to report a "significant" loss for the current quarter, blaming falling chip prices. The company laid off 13 per cent of its staff because of a slump in personal computer sales growth.

Declines outnumbered advances by 1,205 to 1,150 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 747 unchanged.

The NYSE's composite index fell 0.35 to 348.20. The Standard and Poor's 500-stock index fell 1.76 to 649.93.