Profit-taking pushes US stocks lower

A burst of profit-taking sent stocks lower on Wall Street today as investors cashed in some of their winnings following two weeks of sizable gains. The Dow Jones industrials fell 118 points.

“The market seems a little tired,” said Michael Murphy, head trader at Wachovia Securities. “We’ve had a pretty good mood the last eight days, so some sort of pullback or digestion of the recent gains would be in order.”