NEW YORK -- Stocks retreated for the second day in a row after sparkling gains last week, this time on renewed concerns about technology company earnings. Dow off 33.85
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 33.85 points to close at 9,693.76, after swinging widely throughout the session.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index, which closed at a record high yesterday, declined 2.89 to 1,279.84, after climbing as much as 11 points earlier in the day. The Nasdaq composite index shed 4.68 to 2,392.94, after trimming an earlier gain of 35 points.
Decliners led advancers by about a 13-to-9 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,345 up, 1,663 down and 551 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 798.6 million shares vs. 709.80 million yesterday.
The NYSE composite index fell 1.17 to 602.93, and the American Stock Exchange composite index slipped 0.73 to 711.45. The Russell 2000 index fell 0.86 to 399.20.
Stocks weren't helped by gains in the bond market. The 30-year Treasury bond was up 27/32 point, or $8.44 per $1,000 in face value; its yield dropped to 5.53 percent from 5.59 percent yesterday.
The bond market opened lower but turned around after a morning report showing that the productivity of American workers surged at a 4.6 percent annual rate during the final three months of last year, the best showing in six years. For all of 1998, productivity increased a healthy 2.2 percent, up from a 1.2 percent gain in 1997.
In overseas trading, Japanese stocks rose, pulling the benchmark to its first close above 15,000 in three months. The Nikkei 225 stock index climbed 317.65 points, or 2.2 percent, to 15,096.70, its highest close since Nov. 27.