NEW YORK -- Stocks turned lower at the close of trading today, breaking out of a tight range as continuing worries about interest rates and the latest warning about corporate earnings rattled the market. The Dow Jones industrial average closed off 62.05 at 10,213.48. Dow off 62.05
Broader stock indicators also ended lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 13.83 to 1,268.37, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 25.98 to 2,730.27.
Advancers outnumbered decliners by a 10-to-9 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,598 up, 1,436 down and 505 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 854.81 million shares vs. 881.30 million yesterday.
The New York Stock Exchange composite index fell 3.84 to 586.24, the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 7.19 to 780.04 and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 3.03 to 421.52. Bond yields rose 4 basis points to 6.12 percent, lifted as the price of the 30-year benchmark fell 17/32, or $5.31 per $1,000 face amount, to 100.
As stocks swung in a narrow range in choppy trading, analysts said most investors appeared reluctant to buy in the sessions before the Federal Reserve's Tuesday meeting on interest rates.
Stocks were also hurt by the latest round of corporate profit warnings. Gillette Co. fell $3.56 to $33.44 after saying late yesterday third-quarter sales will be about 1 percent below last year's levels, prompting a number of downgrades from Wall Street analysts.
Avon Products Inc., the direct seller of cosmetics, tumbled $9.871/2 to $25.81 after saying its fourth-quarter earnings and sales may miss estimates.