NEW YORK -- The blue-chip sector struggled, but stocks were mostly higher today in quiet trading before Friday's key reading on wage inflation. Dow off 27;
other indexes riseThe Dow Jones industrial average fell 27.40 points to 7,867.24, recovering over the final hour from a 76-point deficit.
Advancers led decliners by a nearly 8-to-7 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,501 up, 1,322 down and 560 unchanged. NYSE volume was 559.32 million shares vs. 548.72 million yesterday.
Broad-market indicators were posted modest gains, with the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies closing at a record high for the sixth consecutive session.
The Standard & Poor's 500-stock list rose 3.01 to 930.87, the NYSE composite index rose 1.40 to 485.11, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 6.40 to 1,624.64.
The Russell 2000 rose 0.93 to 429.72, its ninth consecutive winning session. The American Stock Exchange composite closed at a record high for the third straight day, rising 2.26 to 662.26.
Meanwhile, the price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was off 1/16 point, or 62.5 cents per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon, while its yield held at late yesterday's 6.60 percent.
About half of the Dow's loss was the result of a Smith Barney downgrade against Caterpillar Inc.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. slid sharply after late yesterday's warning that slow production of its new K6 semiconductors would weigh down the company's third-quarter results. Intel Corp., maker of a rival high-end chip, rose in active Nasdaq trading.
The AMD news followed a discouraging outlook by computer maker Gateway 2000, but analysts said both announcements were specific to those companies rather than indicative of any industry trend.