Stocks Finish Mostly Lower for Second Straight Session
Most stocks fell for a second straight day, in what some investors called an overdue pullback.</br></br>Although the current stock weakness has been sparked by the report of more anthrax exposure, in New York and on Capitol Hill, a more fundamental reason is that stocks have come back sharply since hitting bottom on Sept. 21 and now are consolidating, these investors believe.</br></br>"We think we are in a two-step-forward, one-step-back mode," said John Meara, president of St. Louis money-management firm Argent Capital Management. With the Dow Jones Industrial Average still up 11% since bottoming out on Sept. 21, and with the immediate prospects for the economy and the antiterrorism campaign still uncertain, some investors are taking profits on their recent gains.</br></br>Although the Nasdaq Composite Index rebounded 0.39%, or 6.38 points, to 1652.72 following Wednesday's 4.4% slide, most stocks fell on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market. The industrials were down 0.76%, or 69.75 points, at 9163.22, while the broad Standard & Poor's 500-stock index declined 0.79%, or 8.48 points, to 1068.61.</br></br>Bonds were little changed and the dollar fell.