Wall Street: Tuesday mid-session

BLUE-CHIPS traded near the unchanged mark after a downbeat forecast from telecoms leader

Verizon, in which Vodafone is a major shareholder, fell more than 4% after it warned earnings would miss Wall Street forecasts. That knocked SBC Communications and AT&T, both Dow components.

'The news on Verizon has got telecoms off, and telecoms have lately been one of the favourite groups along with technology,' said Tim Heekin, director of trading at Thomas Weisel Partners in San Franciso.

'Stock prices have gotten ahead of valuations, and the market's probably poised to have a short-term pullback.'

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 5.83 points to 9529.58 by mid-session while the technology-laced Nasdaq added 11.74 points to 1886.36.

With an empty economic calendar, the focus was on headlines from corporate America as it enters the earnings warning season.

Brokers were in the spotlight, after Wall Street heavyweights Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley reported higher quarterly earnings that beat Wall Street estimates.