NEW YORK -- Rising bond yields sent most stocks lower today, exacerbating nervousness in a market already rattled by the dollar's latest slump against the Japanese yen. Dow falls 41
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 40.99 at 10,947.92. Early in the session, the Dow had dropped as much as 102 points. Broader market indicators also closed lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 8.79 to 1,407.83. The Nasdaq composite index dropped 26.44 to 3,421.37.
Decliners beat advancers by a 2-to-1 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 2,120 down, 1,004 up and 444 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 863.90 million shares vs. 310.2 million on Friday, when the market was open for a half-day as part of the Thanksgiving weekend.
The NYSE composite slipped 3.45 to 636.50; the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 1.72 to 832.12; and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 1.99 to 456.95.
Bonds fell steeply today, pushing the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond up to 6.30 percent from 6.23 percent on Friday. The rising yield hurt financial stocks the most; J.P. Morgan and American Express fell steeply.
Stocks fell along with bonds after the dollar proved immune to a Japanese effort to boost the U.S. currency. In an effort to contain the yen's recent surge and maintain Japan's burgeoning economic recovery, the Bank of Japan bought dollars today. But the transaction provided no more than a modest lift. In New York trading, the dollar bought 102.22 Japanese yen, up from 101.64 on Friday. Last Wednesday, the dollar bought 104.53 yen.