U.S. Stocks Finish Down For First Session In Four
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks declined on Monday, with investors taking profit after a three-session winning streak while sifting through December sales results from automakers.
"The market up more than 6% in three trading days was enough to give the market a reason to take a breather here," said Peter Bookvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak. .
After closing at an eight-week high Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 81.8 points, or 0.9%, to end at 8,952.89.
Twenty-two of the Dow's 30 components closed in the red, with shares of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. slumping 6.7% after Deutsche Bank cut its estimates on the bank. .
Verizon Communications Inc. also weighed on the blue-chip index, its shares losing 6.2% in the wake of its downgrade by Bernstein Research.
The S&P 500 lost 4.35 points, or 0.5%, to settle at 927.45, with telecommunication services, health care and financials fronting sector declines.
The energy sector fared the best, with shares including Consol Energy Inc. fronting the gains, up 8.5%.
The Nasdaq Composite declined 4.18 points, or 0.3%, to 1,628.03, with tech stocks dipping even as Apple Inc. shares rose after CEO Steve Jobs acknowledged health problems but said he would stay on as the company's chief executive. .
Shares of Apple Inc. gained 4.2% after Jobs said he is undergoing treatment for a hormone imbalance that has caused him to lose weight. Jobs made his comments in an open letter to the Apple community. .
In an abrupt move, Tyson Foods Inc. said CEO dick Bond has stepped down from his post at the big meat producer. Tyson shares fell 6%. .
On Capitol Hill, President-elect Barack Obama is meeting with congressional leaders of both parties as he tries to shore up support for his economic-stimulus package and about $300 billion in tax cuts. .
On Friday, the Labor Department is expected to report a decline of 500,000 jobs in December, which would translate into a loss of more than 2 million jobs for 2008.
Volume on the New York Stock Exchange topped 1.3 billion, and advancing issues overtook those declining nearly 2 to 1. On the Nasdaq, more than 673 million shares traded, and advancers overtook decliners 7 to 6.
Driven
End-of-the-year results from the auto industry proved dismal, but investors expected worse. Shares of Ford Motor Co. gained 4.9% after it reported a 32.4% drop in December sales; General Motors Corp. rose 1.6% after GM said sales fell 31% last month. .
"This is good news in the sense that it suggest the industry may finally be stabilizing after hemorrhaging for much of this year," said analysts at Action Economics.
Economic data were also Less grim than anticipated, with the Commerce Department reporting that construction spending fell 0.6% in November.
J.P. Morgan raised its rating on Amazon.com Inc. to overweight from neutral. Shares of the online retailer fell 0.6%.
Oil futures rallied to one-month highs, with crude for February delivery up $2.47, or 5.3%, to end at $48.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Elsewhere on the NYME, gold futures closed down $21.7, or 2.5%, at $857.8 an ounce.
The dollar index , a measure of the greenback against rival currencies, held steady at 82.66%. .
Treasury prices were mixed after the Federal Reserve said it had begun buying mortgage-backed securities. .
Overseas, Asian markets shot higher, with Japanese stocks taking the lead.
European shares also gained, with telecom, utility and oil equities among the strongest performers. .
By Kate Gibson