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Stocks end mixed
amid profit-taking
NEW YORK >> Wall Street stalled in quiet trading yesterday as investors booked profits from the New Year's rally and searched for new reasons to buy. Prices closed narrowly mixed, with technology stocks showing the biggest gains.
Some selling had been expected following the big advance a day earlier, and analysts said the absence of vigorous buying did not mean the market, which has been gradually moving higher since late 2003, was losing momentum.
"What you're seeing is a slight pause in what is still an upwardly biased market," said Brian Bush, director of equity research at Stephens Inc. "And I expect to see more upside."
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 5.41, or 0.1 percent, at 10,538.66, maintaining nearly all of the 134-point surge on Monday that led it to its highest close since March 2002.
The market's broader indicators were higher.
The Nasdaq composite index closed up 10.01, or 0.5 percent, at 2,057.37. The advance added to the 2 percent gain Monday, and was the index's highest close since Jan. 4, 2002.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.45, or 0.1 percent, to 1,123.67.
Advancing issues narrowly led decliners on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume was 2.01 billion shares, roughly the same as the previous session.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was up 0.97, or 0.2 percent, at 569.89.
The NYSE composite index gained 6.57 , or 0.1 percent, to 6,541.15.
The American Stock Exchange composite index rose 4.73, or 0.4 percent, to 1,194.44.
The Treasury's two-year note gained 632 to 100 332, with its yield falling 10 basis points to 1.82 percent.
The 10-year note jumped 2532 to 99 2532, with its yield declining 10 basing points to 4.28 percent.
The market shrugged off a Commerce Department report of a 1.4 percent decline in November in orders to U.S. factories. It was the biggest setback for orders in seven months, but analysts discounted the numbers as a blip in a generally improving economic outlook.
Sun Microsystems closed up 33 cents, or 7 percent, at $5.03 on an encouraging research note from Merrill Lynch about the computer and software maker.
Shares of Gateway fell 64 cents to $4.34 a day after the computer company reduced its fourth-quarter revenue forecasts because of low inventory on some products and pricing competition among PC makers.
Other computer makers also pulled back, including Dell, which dropped 16 cents to $35.06.
U.S. automakers slipped a day after reporting they had lost more ground to foreign car makers during 2003. General Motors Corp. dropped 33 cents to $54.26, while Ford Motor Co. lost 5 cents to $16.54.
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