Star-Bulletin news services
Stock market slips
as trading dries up
NEW YORK >> Wall Street retreated modestly in light trading yesterday, with the market in search of a direction following the Dow Jones industrials' brief foray above 10,000 a day earlier.
Investors appeared unwilling to push the market significantly higher in the absence of news yesterday, and following the milestone touched in the previous session.
"There are two things at play in this market," said Kevin Caron, market strategist with Ryan, Beck & Co. LLC. "You've got fundamental conditions in the economy improving, but on the other hand you have the very human response of money managers, who are facing the year-end and trying to position their portfolios after two or three down years."
The Dow closed down 1.56, or 0.02 percent, at 9,921.86. In the previous session, the index blipped above 10,000 for all of a minute. The Nasdaq composite index ended down 3.67, or 0.2 percent, at 1,904.65. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 1.13, or 0.1 percent, to 1,059.05.
Decliners outnumbered advancers almost 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume was at 1.85 billion, compared with Tuesday when 1.86 billion shares were traded.
The Russell 2000 index closed down 6.05, or 1.1 percent, at 528.49. The NYSE composite index fell 28.52, or 0.5 percent, to 6,108.65. The American Stock Exchange composite index lost 12.18, or 1.1 percent, to 1,112.39.
The Treasury's two-year note rose 332 to 99 3032, with its yield falling 6 basis points to 1.91 percent. The 10-year note gained 932 to 99 1532, with its yield losing 4 basis points to 4.32 percent.
Investors were euphoric when the Dow tipped three points over the 10,000 mark Tuesday, but they pulled back after the market failed to accelerate convincingly. They sought more profits when the Federal Reserve indicated in rates would stay low for now.
Luxury home builder Toll Brothers Inc. closed down $1.58, or 4 percent, at $37.87 despite reporting better-than-expected earnings on strong revenue and orders for new homes. The entire sector broadly declined amid concerns about falling mortgage demand.
BellSouth closed down 25 cents at $26.96 after Morgan Stanley cut it to "equalweight" from "overweight," in part because of concerns that the stock was overvalued. The telecommunications firm has gained more than 20 percent since the end of the first quarter.
AutoZone Inc. ended the day down $11.09, or 12 percent, at $80.25 after posting first-quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations by 7 cents a share. The auto parts retailer, which recently launched a new tool product line, promised it would continue to expand, but analysts were unimpressed with revenue performance and U.S. Bancorp cut the firm from a "strong buy" to a "market perform."
Gainers included EMC Corp., which rose 11 cents to $12.37 after Goldman Sachs upgraded the data storage company's rating to "outperform" from "in-line."
STOCK QUOTES/CHARTS/DATA
