The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 19.75 at 6,422.94 after rebounding from a 75-point deficit over the last hour.
Decliners outnumbered advancers by more than a 4-to-3 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,076 up, 1,458 down and 779 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 493.70 million shares vs. 515.66 million in yesterday.
The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 3.18 to 745.10, and the NYSE's composite index fell 1.62 to 393.23. The Nasdaq composite index fell 3.35 to 1,297.02, and the American Stock Exchange index fell 3.19 to 588.99.
The Nasdaq market snapped its streak of seven consecutive record closes as technology stocks succumbed to the selling pressure.
After an early follow-through to late yesterday's pullback, today's session had turned sluggish with bonds trading almost unchanged.
There was little reaction to the published results of a Federal Reserve survey that reinforced the widespread notion that the economy is growing moderately with little sign of rising prices. Most analysts say the pace of economic growth has slowed enough to keep inflationary pressures in check without an interest-rate hike.
Despite the absence of any alarming news in the Fed report, bonds began sliding in the early afternoon amid some profit-taking, pulling stocks lower as the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond - a key determinant of corporate and consumer borrowing costs - jumped to nearly 6.40 percent from late yesterday's 6.36 percent.