NEW YORK >> Wall Street pulled back today in light, uneventful trading as investors extended their Christmas holidays. Much of the day's activity was driven by company or industry specific news rather than any broader market trends. Stocks fall in
quiet sessionLisa Singhania
Associated PressThe Dow Jones industrials fell more than 100 points, but analysts were unconcerned, noting that the lack of trading volume made the market's indexes more susceptible to fluctuations.
"A lot of this is just low volume trading following the holiday," said Subodh Kumar, chief investment strategist for CIBC World Markets. "The market had a good run this fall, and we're waiting for earnings reports next month. That combined with the holiday is creating sideways trading."
Declining issues outnumbered advancers more than 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was light. The Dow closed down 128.83, or 1.5 percent, at 8,303.78.
Broader indexes also retreated. The Nasdaq composite index lost 19.58, or 1.4 percent, to 1,348.31, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 14.26, or 1.6 percent, to 875.40. The Russell 2000 index closed down 5.24 at 384.16.
For the week, the Dow fell 2.4 percent, the Nasdaq lost 1.1 percent, the S&P declined 2.3 percent and the Russell gave up 0.7 percent -- giving the markets their third losing week out of the past four.
The price of the Treasury's 10-year note was up 23/32 point, while its yield fell to 3.81 percent from 3.90 percent late yesterday. Two-year Treasury notes were up 5/32 point and yielded 1.60 percent, down from 1.69 percent yesterday.
The session's lackluster tone reflected the fact that many participants had yet to return to work following Christmas. Trading volume is also likely to be low next week in advance of New Year's Day.
Investors sent shares of Lockheed Martin up 80 cents to $57.70 on news that Poland had agreed to buy 48 F-16 aircraft in a deal worth $3.5 billion.
But PepsiCo dropped 74 cents to $41.67 on news that a federal appeals court had upheld the dismissal of the soft drink company's lawsuit against Coca-Cola. Pepsi had alleged that Coke illegally controlled the market for fountain drinks by requiring soda distributors it dealt with to sell only Coke products to movie houses, restaurants and other retailers. Coca-Cola shares fell 68 cents to $43.47.
Energy stocks also fell back amid continued unrest in Venezuela, one of the world's key oil producers, and ongoing terrorism fears. ExxonMobil slipped 68 cents to $34.64, while Schlumberger fell 83 cents to $41.92.
And retailers slipped in response to what appeared to be one of the most disappointing holiday shopping seasons in years. Federated Department Stores lost 14 cents to $27.52. Wal-Mart, which said yesterday it would fall short of its goal for sales in stores open at least a year, dropped 60 cents to $49.16.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average finished up 0.2 percent. In Europe, France's CAC-40 lost 2.3 percent, Britain's FTSE 100 declined 2.9 percent and Germany's DAX index fell 5.4 percent.
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