Today's "double-witching" expiration of stock and stock-index options contracts helped keep the market volatile, said Hugh Johnson chief investment officer at First Albany Corp. "Where there is an expiration day, you tend to get very unpredictable swings in the market, and today was really no exception," he said.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 4.24 points to 6,931.62. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was 478.30 million compared with 490.267 yesterday.
The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index was down 1.03 to 801.77 while the NYSE composite index fell 0.08 to 421.01. The Nasdaq composite was down 12.82 to 1,334.58. The American Stock Exchange index closed at 597.29, down 0.14.
Without any economic news to move the market, stocks were lower at the start of trading, up by midmorning, then down again.
Heavy profit-taking in the technology sector forced the Nasdaq down, while blue-chip stocks struggled to post modest gains.
Stemming some of the losses were the stronger dollar and higher bond prices. Weakness in both markets yesterday sent stocks lower for a second straight day.
A weak dollar signals foreign investors might be pulling out of U.S. holdings, and lower bond prices can be a sign profits could be hurt by higher borrowing costs.