Stocks End Lower on Wall Street

Stocks on Wall Street fell on Monday, as weaker-than-expected manufacturing data apparently gave investors reason to book profits.

By the close of trading, the Standard Poor’s 500-stock index, which hit a closing high on Thursday, was down 0.5 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average lost about 6 points and the Nasdaq composite index ended 0.9 percent lower. European markets were closed for a holiday.

During the session, the biggest drag on both the S.P. 500 and Nasdaq 100 indexes was Apple, which fell 3 percent. Will Danoff, whose $92 billion Fidelity Contrafund is the largest active shareholder in Apple, cut the fund’s stake in the iPhone maker 10 percent during the first two months of 2013.

The Institute for Supply Management’s March manufacturing reading of 51.3 continued to show expansion, but activity slowed from the 54.2 reading in February. A separate report showed construction spending rose more than expected in February, gaining 1.2 percent, above forecasts of a 1 percent rise.

Other recent data has pointed to a strengthening American economy in general, however, and that has helped push both the Dow and the S.P. 500s to record highs and is likely to mean market pullbacks will be short-lived, analysts said.

“The economy is still improving ever so slowly, so I think there’s room for the market to go up,” said Bryant Evans, investment adviser and portfolio manager at Cozad Asset Management, in Champaign, Ill.

The benchmark S.P. index remained below its record intraday high of 1,576.09, but moves may be limited this week in the absence of major catalysts before the March payrolls report on Friday.

For the year, the S.P. is up 9.5 percent, the Dow is up 11.1 percent and the Nasdaq is up 7.4 percent. The Dow first surpassed its record highs in early March.

In company news, Tesla Motors surged 16 percent after forecasting full profitability in the first quarter, citing strong sales of its Model S sedan.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: April 1, 2013

An earlier version of this article, and its capsule summary, misstated the day when the Standard Poor’s 500-share index reached a new closing high. The high was reached last Thursday, not Friday.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/business/economy/daily-stock-market-activity.html?partner=rss&emc=rss