US stocks fall as investors lock in 2013 profits

NEW YORK: US stocks tumbled Wednesday in a decline that analysts attributed to profit-taking after the equity market surge of 2013.

At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 131.65 (0.82 percent) to 15,841.48.

The broad-based S&P 500 declined 20.57 (1.14 percent) to 1,782.05, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gave up 56.68 (1.40 percent) at 4,003.81.

"The market has been in a little bit of a sell-off mood since the beginning of the month, and rightly so after being up 25 percent," said Mace Blicksilver, director of Marblehead Asset Management. referring to the S&P 500's gain so far in 2013.

"It's getting close to the end of the year," said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities. "There's more profit to protect this year."