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NEW YORK >> Wall Street wobbled through an indecisive session yesterday, finishing modestly lower as investors, worried about the economy and terrorism, had no conviction to sustain even a mild wave of bargain-hunting.
With the Dow Jones industrial average having fallen 5 percent since March 8, investors sought to rebalance their portfolios with stocks that, while still fundamentally sound, were hit hard in the two-week selloff. But stocks gave up their gains twice during the session as nervous short-term investors cashed in their intraday profits.
"The market right now is probably at the lower end of a fair-value range," said Kevin Caron, market strategist for Ryan, Beck & Co. "The near-term trader, trading off the news on the war on terrorism, is going to take this opportunity to move money out of this market. But for long-term investors, this is a good time to step in."
The Dow fell 1.11, or 0.01 percent, to 10,063.64 after rising as much as 60 points early on and then ratcheting up and down through the session. Broader stock indicators also ended narrowly lower after a volatile day. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 1.45, or 0.1 percent, at 1,093.95, while the Nasdaq composite index lost 8.10, or 0.4 percent, to 1,901.80.
The price of the Treasury's 10-year note closed up332 point, while its yield fell to 3.70 percent from 3.72 percent Monday. Two-year Treasury note prices were unchanged, but their yield dropped to 1.47 percent from 1.49 percent Monday.
Volume remained somewhat light as investors carefully chose their bets, opting for the financial, transportation and healthcare sectors -- all defensive stocks meant to ride out any short-term volatility.
Many investors sat out the session, waiting for tomorrow's gross domestic product and first-time jobless data for a sign of whether the economic recovery would gain some momentum. Lower-than-expected numbers, however, could prompt another round of selling in a market that's been falling for weeks. Analysts said the market may be close to finding a bottom, although they said stocks might give more ground before buyers finally settle in for good.
"People have been forced to digest a lot of bad news very early, and there's some feeling that they took too many chips off the table too quickly," said Jack Caffrey, equities strategist at J.P. Morgan Private Bank. "With the preponderance of the volume yesterday being on the downside and some better news from earnings, we may have the ingredients for a short-term rally."
Financial services stocks led the buying, as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. became the latest financial company to far outpace earnings estimates. Goldman Sachs, up 9 cents at $101.39, beat estimates by 85 cents per share and boosted the entire sector. Merrill Lynch & Co. lost 9 cents to $59.20 and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. gained 18 cents to $40.98.
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