WALL Street stocks fell yesterday, led by technology shares, which slid sharply amid heavy profit taking on January's gains and more disappointing earnings news from the computer networking sector.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 49.26 points to close at 6806.54, having surrendered an early 20 point gain that briefly put the blue chip barometer within 10 points of a new record.

Broader measures also tell, with the steepest drop coming in the technology laden Nasdaq market.

NYSE volume totalled 467.56 million shares, against 538.62 million in the previous session.

The Standard and Poor's 500 stock list fell 4.11 to 785.45, and the NYSE composite index fell 1.45 to 412.35. Both measures, dominated by larger companies, had closed at record highs on Friday.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 22.32 to 1,335.39, but the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 1.23 to 587.84.