Blue-chip and tech stocks ended slightly higher on Monday as investors paused after last week's election rally and braced for US interest-rate hikes that threaten to raise companies' costs. But the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index finished lower, breaking a 9-day streak of gains.
Drug maker Pfizer Inc weighed on the Dow and S&P 500 gauges, sliding 38 cents to $28.41, after it emerged the drug company is talking with regulators over changing the label of its Bextra arthritis drug to warn of a potentially deadly skin reaction.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 3.77 points, or 0.04 percent, to 10,391.31, a 4-month high. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 1.28 points, or 0.11 percent, to 1,164.89. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.31 point, or 0.02 percent, at 2,039.25.
Trading was active, with 1.4 billion shares changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange, matching the daily average for last year. About 1.6 billion shares were traded on Nasdaq, just below the 1.69 billion daily average last year. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by about 5 to 3 and on Nasdaq by 8 to 7.
Monday's performance marked a pause from last week when investors piled into stocks seen as benefiting under Republican control of the White House and Congress, such as defence, and cheered the fact there was no repeat of the 2002 election fiasco. Investors were focused on an expected quarter-point hike to 2 percent in the benchmark fed funds rate on Wednesday by the Federal Open Market Committee. A strong employment report on Friday increased expectations of a further hike in December. Cisco Systems Inc closed unchanged at $19.97.
The dollar continued to cause concern after it hit a record low against the euro on Monday, although it later regained some ground. A prolonged decline of the dollar could deter foreigners from investing in US stocks.
Among falling shares, insurer American International Group Inc lost 51 cents at $60.54 after The Wall Street Journal reported that US regulators launched probes into products sold by insurers that help customers enhance their financial statements.Oil companies fell as the price of crude slipped. US light crude for December fell 52 cents at $49.09 a barrel. Exxon Mobil Corp fell 22 cents to $50.17 while ChevronTexaco Corp was down $1.17 at $53.36.
Brokerage stocks fell sharply after the New York Times reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating about a dozen firms that may have failed to obtain the best price for stocks traded for customers.
Firms under scrutiny, according to the report, include Morgan Stanley, down 82 cents at $52.93, and Merrill Lynch, down 60 cents at $55.82.
But McDonald's Corp rose 14 cents to $30.20 after it said sales at its namesake restaurants open at least 13 months rose 6.1 percent in October.
Pixar Animation Studios Inc dragged on the Nasdaq, falling 6 percent, or $5.20, to $79.25 after some analysts said the opening of its new film, "The Incredibles," may not have been as strong as Wall Street had anticipated.
Taser International Inc soared 16 percent, or $7.63, to $54.12 after winning US government approval for the use of its stun guns on some commercial airline flights to protect passengers.