NEW YORK >> Wall Street mostly retrenched today, as investors couldn't resist a chance to cash in quick gains from a two-day rally. Still, the Dow Jones industrials easily posted their seventh week of gains, the longest streak in more than four years. Profit-taking slows stocks
following two-day rallyBy Hope Yen
Associated PressAnalysts said a pullback was somewhat expected after a two-day surge pushed stocks to their highest level in months. Lighter trading in advance of the Thanksgiving holiday also contributed to price swings.
"We're having a bit of pause after yesterday's big rally," said Ed Peters, chief investment officer at PanAgora Asset Management Inc. "With the advance being so quick, people are reassessing."
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners about 5 to 4 on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was moderate.
The Dow fell 40.31, or 0.5 percent, to close at 8,804.84 and snap a two-day gain of 370 points. Yesterday, blue chips closed at their highest level since Aug. 26, when it stood at 8,919.01.
The broader market finished mixed. The Nasdaq composite index inched up 1.19, or 0.1 percent, to 1,468.74, after closing yesterday at a level not seen since July. The Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 3.21, or 0.3 percent, to 930.55. The Russell 2000 index, which tracks smaller company stocks, rose 2.32, or 0.6 percent, to 400.00.
For the week, the Dow gained 2.6 percent to post its seventh winning week, a feat not seen since the period ended March 20, 1998. The Nasdaq climbed 4.1 percent and the S&P 500 rose 2.3 percent, their sixth week of gains in seven weeks.
The price of the Treasury's 10-year note was down 7/32 point, while its yield rose to 4.18 percent from 4.15 percent yesterday. Two-year Treasury notes were down 1/16 point and yielded 2.06 percent, up from 2.03 percent yesterday.
Analysts said investors have been upbeat after Wall Street's recent rally and are generally looking to buy since the end of the year traditionally has been the strongest time for stocks.
But analysts caution that stocks remain vulnerable to declines due to profit-taking as well as concerns about terrorism and a war with Iraq.
Philip S. Dow, managing director of equity strategy at Dain Rauscher Wessels, said he believes the market has the potential to see an additional 5 to 7 percent of gains by year's end, as money managers scramble to avoid missing out on the recent advance.
"What I'm seeing more and more is people saying maybe we have seen the lows" reached in October, he said. "There's a real performance anxiety out there right now for people to get invested."
Brocade Communications dropped $2, or 27.5 percent, to $5.28 after the data storage networking company warned of lower-than-expected first-quarter revenue.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average finished 1.2 percent higher. In Europe, France's CAC-40 rose 0.5 percent, Britain's FTSE 100 slipped 0.4 percent and Germany's DAX index rose 0.5 percent.
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