NEW YORK -- Stocks pulled back today as the Federal Reserve chose to move gradually in fighting the global economic crisis with lower interest rates. Dow off 28.32
The Dow Jones industrial average, which was up 15 points as Fed officials concluded their latest strategy meeting at about 2 p.m. EDT, finished 28.32 points lower at 8,080.52
The Dow sank as much as 93 points after the Fed announced that it was lowering one of its key lending rates by a quarter-percentage point, the first reduction in nearly three years.
Broader stock indicators were mixed.
The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 0.32 to 1,049.01, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 5.17 to 1,734.05.
Decliners barely outnumbered advancers on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,520 up, 1,544 down and 484 unchanged.
NYSE volume totaled 743.20 million shares, up from 682.72 million at the same time on Monday.
The NYSE composite index rose 0.25 to 518.28, and the American Stock Exchange composite index fell 11.77 to 628.35.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 2.21 to 365.80.
Bonds rose after the rate cut, as investors sought the relative safety of Treasuries amid uncertainty about the direction stocks would take. The 30-year Treasury bond rose 23/32, or $7.19 per $1,000 bond, pushing down its yield 5 basis points to 5.09 percent.
Overseas, Tokyo's Nikkei stock average fell 0.6 percent, Frankfurt's DAX index fell 1.6 percent and London's FT-SE 100 rose 0.3 percent.
