US stocks fell from month-long highs on Wednesday as investors absorbed gains from a three-day rally. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Index dipped below the psychologically sensitive 2,000 level.
Coca-Cola Co led the blue-chip Dow lower as the soft drink giant said its chief operating officer, passed over for the top job in May, was leaving the company. Oil companies like Exxon Mobil Corp and ChevronTexaco fell as crude oil prices stayed well below last week's highs.
Semiconductor maker OmniVision Technologies Inc dragged the Nasdaq lower after the company said it would delay its fourth-quarter earnings release and may have to restate some 2003 and 2004 results.
Trading was light, as it has been all week, with little economic and corporate news rolling in during the session. Most US financial markets will be closed on Friday for the funeral of former President Ronald Reagan.
Traders were looking ahead to Thursday, when the Labour Department will issue the Producer Price Index, a measure of prices paid to farms, factories and refineries.
"After three days of gains, we were due for a breather," said Frederic Dickson, chief market strategist at fund firm D.A. Davidson & Co. "We're seeing a little bit of consolidation. The surprise today is that the break in oil prices hasn't really generated much positive reaction."
Crude oil futures edged higher to $37.54 a barrel on Wednesday, but stayed well below the $42 level it breached in early June.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 64.08 points, or 0.61 percent, at 10,368.44.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index closed down 10.89 points, or 0.95 percent, at 1,131.29. The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite Index fell below 2,000, ending down 32.92 points, or 1.63 percent, at 1,990.61.
Trading was light, with 1.3 billion shares changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange, below the 1.4 billion daily average for last year.
About 1.5 billion shares were traded on Nasdaq, under the 1.7 billion daily average last year.
Decliners outnumbered advancers 3-to-1 on the NYSE and by 11-to-4 on Nasdaq.
Coca-Cola captured the business headlines as it announced COO Steven Heyer's departure, a move which some industry-watchers had expected.
Its shares ended down 85 cents, or 1.6 percent, at $51.76.
Shares of OmniVision, a specialty semiconductor maker, plunged $7.84, or 31 percent, to $17.63.
Exxon Mobil, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, fell 44 cents to $43.45, after hitting a 52-week high on Tuesday, which was propelled by higher oil prices. Meanwhile, ChevronTexaco shares slipped $1.15 to $90.
In other trading, Accenture Ltd fell as a US House of Representatives committee passed a measure that would block the company from a $10 billion security contract because the consulting firm is not based in the United States. Its shares dropped 65 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $24.83.
On the upside, DHB Industries Inc shares soared, a day after the maker of bullet-proof vests said it won a $239.4 million contract for body armour from the US Army for use in Iraq. DHB shares spiked $3.24, or 35 percent, to $12.54 on the American Stock Exchange.
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