Stocks Finish Mostly Lower
The stock market wandered through a listless session Monday, finishing mostly lower as investors largely ignored some upbeat earnings reports and another big merger deal, focusing instead on the release of crucial inflation and spending data this week.
Treasury bond yields resumed their climb as investors worried that the new reports on consumer prices and retail sales could give the Federal Reserve even more reason to continue hiking short-term interest rates.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.61% from 4.54% on Thursday. (The bond market was closed Friday for Veterans Day.) The two-year T-note ended at a new four-year high of 4.49%, up from 4.43%.
The stock market is coming off a three-week advance fed by lower oil prices and positive economic numbers, which have eased fears about the effect of recent hurricanes.
But buyers stepped back on Monday. Most major stock indexes lost ground, although the Dow Jones industrial average edged up 11.13 points, or 0.1%, to 10,697.17.
The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 0.96 point, or 0.1%, to 1,233.76, and the Nasdaq composite lost 1.52 points, or 0.1%, to 2,200.95. Both have rebounded in recent weeks to near four-year highs.
Declining issues outpaced advancers by 5 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Forecasts for a cold snap in the Northeast pressured oil prices despite recent reports that U.S. supplies are adequate for increased demand this winter. A barrel of light crude gained 16 cents to $57.69 in New York.
Investors also weighed comments from Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, who warned that the nation’s trade deficit could not grow wider but said any fallout should be countered by the economy’s flexibility. Many investors fear that foreigners -- who finance the trade deficit -- will grow wary of dollar-denominated investments and unload U.S. stocks and bonds.
Even so, the dollar hit a fresh two-year high against the yen. One dollar was worth 118.76 yen, up from 117.97 on Friday.
For stocks, this week’s economic data should determine whether the recent rally will continue, said Richard Dickson, chief market strategist at Lowry’s Research Reports.
The government will report today on October retail sales. Consumer price inflation for October will be reported on Wednesday.
“I think [the market] has more to go,” Dickson said. “Particularly if the market reacts well to all the data this week, it will give people who’ve been sitting on the sidelines a reason to get in.”
Among the day’s highlights:
* Retail stocks were mixed. Wal-Mart rose 30 cents to $49.30 after reporting a 4% increase in third-quarter profit, matching analysts’ expectations, with sales rising 10% despite the setback dealt by hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
Lowe’s said its earnings swelled 26% and beat Wall Street estimates by 4 cents a share, helped by 17% sales growth. Lowe’s climbed $2.92 to $64.89.
* Georgia-Pacific, the largest tissue maker, soared $12.63, or 36%, to $47.28 for the best performance in the S&P; 500 after Koch Industries agreed to buy the company for $13.2 billion. With the purchase, the second-largest privately held U.S. company will get Dixie paper cups and lumber. Koch will pay $48 for each Georgia-Pacific share, or 39% more than its $34.65 closing price Friday.
International Paper, North America’s largest paper maker, rallied 62 cents to $30.45.
* GM fell for a fourth day in five, losing 74 cents to $23.74. The company’s new incentive program, which follows a 26% drop in October sales, runs through Jan. 3 on most cars and trucks.
* Google resumed its rally, gaining $6.57 to a record closing price of $396.97.
* Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, owner of the Sheraton and Westin chain, rose 76 cents to $60.02. The company agreed to sell 38 properties to Host Marriott, which owns hotels operated under the Hyatt, Hilton and Westin names, for about $3.4 billion.
* Tyson Foods dropped $1.99 to $16.51. The firm said it would earn between 95 cents and $1.25 a share this fiscal year and expected beef sales to be hurt by closed export markets due to mad cow disease. Analysts had expected $1.33.
