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NEW YORK -- Stocks closed lower today in slow holiday trading, as the technology sector remained under fire from investors concerned about weakening profit growth. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 28.11 at 10,568.43. Dow down 28.11
Associated Press
The Nasdaq composite index fell 5.45 to 3,355.56, having recovered from a loss of more than 100 points earlier in the session. The Standard & Poor's 500 index closed down 6.96 at 1,402.03.
The NYSE composite index lost 2.57 to 653.55, the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 1.19 to 921.90 and the Russell 2000 index closed down 1.49 at 489.53.
Decliners outnumbered advancers by a 5-to-3 ratio on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,562 down, 1,206 up and 474 unchanged. Volume was 718.1 million shares, well below Friday's pace of 1.15 billion. Trading was light due to the Columbus Day and Yom Kippur holidays. The bond market was closed.
The NYSE composite index lost 2.57 to 653.55, the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 1.19 to 921.90 and the Russell 2000 index closed down 1.49 at 489.53.
Tech stocks have been under pressure for weeks amid a string of profit warnings.
"The main force of this downward pressure is the downward shift in expected profits by companies outside the energy sector," said Richard Hoey, chief economist and chief investment strategist at Dreyfus Corp. in New York.
The trend has pushed the Nasdaq to its lowest level since May.
Many widely held Nasdaq companies were down today. Microsoft fell $1.38 to $54.19, Cisco Systems was down $2.50 at $53.69, and Amazon.com lost $1.50 to $30.06. In addition, shares of Connetics, a biopharmaceutical company, fell $20.19, or 79 percent, to $5.31 after announcing that a flagship product for treating scleroderma had failed in recent trials.