NEW YORK >> A bout of second-guessing left stocks mixed today, as Wall Street questioned whether its autumn rally came too fast, too soon. Investors, once again cautious, largely dismissed reports of strong retail sales and positive outlooks from Amgen and other companies. Stocks mixed despite
strong retail salesBy Amy Baldwin
Associated Press"Having already worked in two months of solid performance, the market looks a little tired here," said Bryan Piskorowski, market commentator for Prudential Securities.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners nearly 4 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange. Trading volume was light. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 50.74, or 0.6 percent, at 8,538.40.
The market's broader gauges were narrowly mixed. The Nasdaq composite index rose 3.00, or 0.2 percent, to 1,399.59. The Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 3.38, or 0.4 percent, to 901.58. The Russell 2000 index rose 1.48, or 0.4 percent, to 395.36.
The price of the Treasury's 10-year note was up 1/8 point this afternoon, while its yield fell to 4.01 percent from 4.02 percent yesterday. Two-year Treasury notes were up 1/16 point and yielded 1.81 percent, down from 1.86 percent yesterday.
The Commerce Department reported that sales at the nation's retailers rose 0.4 percent in November, the best reading in three months and inline with analysts' expectations. But the news failed to trigger a burst of buying, perhaps because it wasn't surprising as many retailers had already announced that late November sales were strong.
Analysts said the market's lackluster performance didn't mean that investors were ignoring improving fundamentals, such as sales and earnings, but that stocks simply were vulnerable to some profit taking after two months of rallies.
Some disappointing economic news contributed to today's air of caution. The Labor Department reported that new claims for unemployment benefits soared last week by a seasonally adjusted 83,000 to 441,000, the highest level since the week ending April 13.
Among today's decliners, Kimberly-Clark, which lowered its fourth quarter and 2003 earnings estimates, fell 73 cents to $46.05.
Bristol-Myers Squibb dropped $1.80 to $25.35 on a report in The Wall Street Journal saying the drug maker used accounting techniques to reach its financial targets in recent years.
Upbeat outlooks produced some winners today. Amgen climbed $3.18 to $50.45 after the biotech firm said it expects to exceed analysts' 2003 earnings expectations because of strong product sales.
Ciena advanced $1.02 to $6.20 after the networker announced it expects revenue in the first quarter to increase by as much as 10 percent from the fourth quarter.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average finished off 0.2 percent. In Europe, France's CAC-40 fell 1.7 percent, Britain's FTSE 100 declined 1 percent, and Germany's DAX index lost 2.6 percent.
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