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%.
