Dow off 31.81
Associated PressNEW YORK - Prices were mixed on Wall Street today as the stock market was unable to settle on a clear direction. A profit warning from Caterpillar sent blue chip stocks falling.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 31.81 to 11,003.89, losing ground after a 152-point gain yesterday. The Dow ended the week, which included a big rally on optimism about stable interest rates, with a gain of 234.57, or nearly 2.2 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 2.94 to 1,422.00. But the Nasdaq composite index rose 22.14 to a record close of 3,369.10
Decliners beat advancers by a 3-to-2 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,818 down, 1,201 up and 513 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 879.26 million shares vs. 1 billion yesterday. The NYSE fell 2.78 to 646.12; the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 3.38 to 826.12; the Russell 2000 index fell 0.77 to 461.27.
The 30-year Treasury rose 1/32, or 31 cents per $1,000 face amount, and its yield was steady at yesterday's 6.16 percent.
The biggest drain on the Dow was, Caterpillar, the world's largest maker of heavy machinery. Caterpillar's shares fell 11 percent after the company told investors that sales of tractors and other equipment were slower than expected. Caterpillar said profits should come in slightly higher than the 61 cents a share earned in this year's third quarter. Analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial had expected earnings of 97 cents a share.
On the Nasdaq, China.com, a Hong Kong-based Internet company focused on electronic commerce, jumped nearly 22 percent after its board declared a 2-for-1 stock split.