NEW YORK -- Stock prices closed mixed today after a choppy session that saw some profit-taking in blue chips and renewed interest in technology shares. Dow down 24
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 24.34 to close at 11,007.25. The blue chip index fluctuated between positive and negative territory throughout the session. On Friday, the Dow rose 84.77 to close at 11,031.59, its second record high close for the week and its second finish above 11,000.
Broader stock indicators were mixed today.
The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 4.70 to 1,340.30, and the Nasdaq composite rose 22.77 to 2,526.39, largely on the strength of Internet stocks.
Advancers beat decliners by an 11-to-8 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,727 up, 1,281 down and 527 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 767.35 million shares vs. 819.41 million yesterday. The NYSE composite index fell 1.90 to 639.34, and the American Stock Exchange composite index lost 0.21 to 787.08. But the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 4.90 to 441.01.
Blue-chip stocks fell in a reversal of last week's trading pattern, in which investors sold technology stocks and bought those of economically sensitive, or cyclical, companies. Today, traders were unloading cyclicals like General Motors and Boeing.
Consumer and financial services stocks declined amid ongoing concern about interest rates. Bond yields actually fell today, after Yugoslavia's army announced a partial withdrawal of military and police forces from Kosovo. The 30-year bond rose 1/4 point, or $2.50 per $1,000 security. Its yield fell 2 basis points to 5.79 percent.