Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
NEW YORK -- Blue-chip stocks and technology issues closed lower today as investors cashed in some of their winnings from their big rally earlier this week. A last-minute round of buying late in the day offset some of the damage. Analysts attributed the selloff to profit-taking rather than a return of investor anxiety about stocks. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 71.67 at 10,899.47 after rising 580 points since Friday. Dow off 71.67
Associated Press
The tech-focused Nasdaq composite index slipped 36.24 to 3,333.39 after rising 178 points yesterday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was off 8.18 at 1,421.22.
Decliners outnumbered advancers by a 13-to-11 ratio on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,460 down, 1,413 up and 429 unchanged. Volume was 936.85 million shares, down from 1.4 billion shares yesterday. The NYSE composite index fell 1.52 to 664.50, the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 4.32 to 913.62 and the Russell 2000 index slipped 2.50 at 495.18.
The Treasury's 10-year note rose 2/32 to 100 2/32; its yield fell 1 basis point to 5.74 percent. The 30-year bond rose 1/32 to 106 18/32; its yield remained unchanged at 5.78 percent.
Shares of Altera Corp., the world's No. 2 maker of programmable computer chips, fell more than 20 percent because the company anticipates that fourth-quarter sales will be on the low end of its forecast. Altera lost $8.38 to $32.56 and dragged down other chip stocks.
Xilinx Inc., the No. 1 programmable-chip maker, fell $5 to $67.44 after sinking as low at $66.25.