WALL Street stocks fell sharply yesterday, pressured by heavy profit-taking in technology shares as a strong earnings report by Microsoft failed to impress investors.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 29.07 points to close at 6,061.80, recovering from a 53-point loss during the last hour of trading.

Broader measures were also negative, with the biggest losses coming in the technology-heavy Nasdaq market, where investors used earnings reports from the technology sector as an excuse to secure some of their recent profits in computer-related issues.

Stocks were also pressured by rising interest rates in the bond market.

Declines outnumbered advances by a five-to-three margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 921 up, 1,537 down and 826 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 410.68 million shares, against 414.62 million in the previous session.