Dow slips 38.53
Associated PressNEW YORK - Stocks closed mostly lower today as investors took a break from their recent buying spree in the technology sector and failed to find any reasons to buy stocks in the broader market. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 38.53 to 11,068.12.
The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 5.29 to 1,403.88, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.84 to 3,586.08.
Decliners led advancers by a 7-to-4 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,955 down, 1,109 up and 499 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 948.82 million shares vs. 1.05 billion yesterday.
The NYSE composite index fell 0.77 to 634.31; the American Stock Exchange composite slipped 0.80 to 829.22; the Russell 2000 index rose 3.12 to 468.82.
The 30-year Treasury bond fell 13/32 point, or $4.06 per $1,000 face amount; its yield rose 3 basis points to 6.22 percent.
Brian G. Belski, chief investment strategist at George K. Baum & Co., described the choppy movements in the Dow and the Standard & Poor's 500 as "backing and filling." Those indexes are pausing after a steep run-up, trying to muster strength for the next push higher, he said.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq, pausing after its recent surge higher, ended a string of four consecutive record closes. Yesterday, the technology-dominated index rose 40.91 to 3,586.92, its 20th new record close since Oct. 29, largely due to a 23 percent gain by Internet search company Yahoo! Inc.
Yahoo! was added to the S&P 500 after the close of trading yesterday, a move that pushed its stock price higher as index fund managers bought shares. Today, Yahoo! fell as investors collected profits from its steep run-up.