US stocks dip

Wall Street wobbled through an indecisive session today, finishing modestly lower as investors, worried about the economy and terrorism, had no conviction to sustain even a mild wave of bargain-hunting.

With the Dow Jones industrial average having fallen 5% since March 8, investors sought to rebalance their portfolios with stocks that, while still fundamentally sound, were hit hard in the two-week selloff.

But stocks gave up their gains twice during the session as nervous short-term investors cashed in their intraday profits.

“The market right now is probably at the lower end of a fair-value range,” said Kevin Caron, market strategist for Ryan, Beck & Co.

“The near-term trader, trading off the news on the war on terrorism, is going to take this opportunity to move money out of this market. But for long-term investors, this is a good time to step in.”

The Dow fell 1.11, or 0.01%, to 10,063.64 after rising as much as 60 points early on and then ratcheting up and down through the session

Broader stock indicators also ended narrowly lower after a volatile day. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down 1.50, or 0.1%, at 1,093.90, while the Nasdaq composite index lost 8.10, or 0.4%, to 1,901.80.

Volume remained somewhat light as investors carefully chose their bets, opting for the financial, transportation and healthcare sectors – all defensive stocks meant to ride out any short-term volatility.

Many investors sat out the session, waiting for Thursday’s gross domestic product and first-time jobless data for a sign of whether the economic recovery would gain some momentum.

Lower-than-expected numbers, however, could prompt another round of selling in a market that’s been falling for weeks.

Analysts said the market may be close to finding a bottom, although they said stocks might give more ground before buyers finally settle in for good.

Financial services stocks led the buying, as Goldman Sachs Group became the latest financial company to far outpace earnings estimates.

Goldman Sachs, up 9 cents at 101.39, beat estimates by 85 cents per share and boosted the entire sector. Merrill Lynch & Co. lost 9 cents to 59.20 and JP Morgan Chase & Co. gained 18 cents to 40.98.

Jones Apparel Group climbed 12 cents to 35.78 as it launched a 297 million hostile takeover bid for Maxwell Shoe Co. Maxwell was up 50 cents at 22.59.

The troubles for The Walt Disney Co continued as six of the US’s largest pension funds demanded an immediate meeting with the company board to express their concerns over the strength and direction of the entertainment giant. Disney nonetheless rose 20 cents to 25.10.

Microsoft shed 35 cents to 24.15 as it lashed out against the European Union for its proposed 614 million fine for alleged antitrust violations. The EU is also expected to require Microsoft to release a version of the Windows operating system in Europe without the Windows Media Player bundled in.

Viacom said it would collaborate with the Shanghai Media Group to produce children’s programming in the Chinese city. Viacom slipped 5 cents to 38.05.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by nearly 8 to 5 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.44 billion shares, compared to 1.45 billion at the same point today.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 1.93, or 0.4%, to 560.92.