NEW YORK » Caution returned to Wall Street yesterday as investors gave back some gains from last week's rally even as they found encouragement from President-elect Barack Obama's calls for an economic stimulus package.

Some retreat was to be expected after investors sent the Dow Jones industrial average to a two-month high on Friday; investors are wary about pouring more money into the battered market with economic data still generally weak.

Yesterday was the first real test of Wall Street in 2009 after many traders took extended vacations during the holidays, leading to light volume that may have exaggerated the market's move upward. Investors are still contending with fears about everything from the state of corporate earnings to consumers' willingness to spend during a recession.

The Dow fell 81.80, or 0.91 percent, to 8,952.89 after falling as much as 142.

Broader stock indicators showed more modest declines. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 4.35, or 0.47 percent, to 927.45, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 4.18, or 0.26 percent, to 1,628.03.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 0.81, or 0.16 percent, to 505.03.

Despite the pullback in the major indexes, advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.32 billion shares.

Bond prices pulled back yesterday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 2.46 percent from 2.39 percent late Friday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, rose to 0.08 percent from 0.07 percent.

The dollar mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.

Light, sweet crude rose $2.47 to settle at $48.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Analysts expect Wall Street will remain on edge in the coming months as companies release their quarterly results and, more important, their forecasts for the year. Economists are expecting terrible profit reports and cautious forecasts but anything worse than expected could rock the market.