Dow rises 39 but Nasdaq
slips at close

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By Eileen Alt Powell
Associated Press

NEW YORK >> Wall Street meandered today, making mostly modest and mixed moves amid profit-taking from last week's big rally and in the absence of any news to influence trading.

The market's few gains came late in the session, but analysts were still encouraged. They said that while investors are cautious, they are confident enough that they aren't cashing out their positions for fear the market's advance will falter.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 38.75 to 10,611.24 after spending much of the day at a loss.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 3.95 to 1,168.26, while the Nasdaq composite index slipped 0.18 to 1,929.49.

Advancers edged decliners on on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,600 up, 1,545 down and 222 unchanged. Volume was 1.20 billion shares.

The NYSE composite index rose 2.12 to 604.22, the American Stock Exchange composite index gained 4.78 to 886.68 and the Russell 2000 index advanced 0.90 to 500.75.

The Treasury's 2-year note rose 1/32 to 99 18; its yield fell 3 basis points to 3.47 percent. The 10-year note gained 18 to 96 2332; its yield fell 2 basis points to 5.30 percent. The 30-year bond was unchanged at 95 632; its yield remained at 5.72 percent.

"This is good. I'd feel very uncomfortable if we were seeing 1.5 percent or 2 percent up days every day because that would mean we're getting euphoric again," said Rafael Tamargo, director of equity research at Wilmington Trust. "Grinding it out like this is kind of what we need to see. It shows that investors still have questions and are acting carefully."

There wasn't much news today, but investors still found reason to buy financial stocks. J.P. Morgan rose $1.56 to $36.30. Earnings were also in focus. Retailer Williams-Sonoma fell $2.64 to $46.40 after the upscale kitchen-goods chain missed its fourth-quarter earnings target and said first-quarter earnings would not be as strong as analysts expected.

Tech stocks were also mixed.

Qwest Communications International fell 25 cents to $9.46 after the firm said the Securities and Exchange Commission had opened an informal inquiry into its accounting practices.