US stocks end lower as Nasdaq slides

Stocks ended a lethargic session moderately lower today as a lack of economic news returned investors’ focus to interest rates and inflation ahead of comments from new Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke later this week.

Reports that Merrill Lynch & Co. is in talks to buy nearly half of BlackRock Inc. drew a positive reaction from the market, but an article warning of intensifying competition for Google Inc. saddled the tech sector and sent the Nasdaq composite index sliding about 1%.

Trading was quiet while investors anticipated Bernanke’s first testimony before Congress on Wednesday, said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer for Harris Private Bank.

Many thought January’s interest rate hike would be the last for a while, but recent signs of economic growth have rekindled debate over whether the Fed will go further to stifle inflation, he said.

“Right now, the transparency we had with (former Chairman Alan) Greenspan is gone. We’re trying to get some semblance of which way the Fed is going to go,” Ablin said, adding that a strong first-quarter gross domestic product figure would likely guarantee another rate increase at the Fed’s May meeting.

The Dow Jones industrial average declined 26.73, or 0.24 percent, to 10,892.32.

The broader stock indicators also fell, with the Nasdaq dropping 22.07, or 0.98%, to 2,239.81. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 4.13, or 0.33%, to 1,262.86.