NEW YORK - Stocks pulled back modestly today after a three-session romp that had put the market at its highest level since before last month's steep downturn. Dow drops 47
The Dow Jones industrial average, which added about 300 points over the three prior sessions, surrendered an early 22-point gain and fell 47.40 points to close at 7,650.82
Decliners led advancers by a 3-to-2 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,179 up, 1,767 down and 516 unchanged. NYSE volume was 520.50 million shares vs. 575.96 million yesterday.
Broader stock indicators also turned negative after a mixed start.
The Standard & Poor's 500-stock list fell 7.97 to 938.23, the NYSE composite index lost 3.70 to 491.18, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 13.67 to 1,600.44.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies dropped 3.51 to 432.14, and the small-company dominated American Stock Exchange composite index fell 7.79 to 671.21.
Meanwhile, the price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was off 1/32 point, or 31 cents per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon, while its yield rose to 6.07 percent from 6.06 percent late yesterday. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The Dow was cushioned by a big gain from AT&T Corp., which surged 8 percent as the most active issue on the New York Stock Exchange after some positive chatter by Wall Street analysts.
Today's decline came despite another strong day in the Japanese stock market, which extended yesterday's 8 percent surge with a 2.7 percent rise.