Stocks Fall As Investors Take Profits
Investors pulled back ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, selling highflying technology names and other stocks in order to take profits.</br></br>The hot, tech-driven Nasdaq Composite Index broke its recent streak of records, falling 49.69 points, or 1.46%, to 3342.87. Amid continuing fears of inflation and rising interest rates, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 93.89, or 0.85%, to 10995.63, slipping below the 11000 level. The blue chips still are up almost 20% for 1999, and the Nasdaq composite is up more than 52%.</br></br>The declines hit almost every stock group except airline stocks, which benefited from plans for a fare increase. Bonds and the dollar were mixed.</br></br>"It was just a breather in technology after a remarkable string of new highs," noted Robert Harrington, co-head of listed block trading at PaineWebber. But "the way some of the interest-rate sensitive indexes have been acting has given some people cause for concern," he said, adding, "You're heading into the last month of the year and performance has been fantastic. It could be sideways to down for a while here."</br></br>Interest-rate worries were reflected in bank stocks, which fell for a fifth straight trading day, and in the Dow Jones Utility Average, which now is down more than 15% from its June record.