US stocks mixed as rally pauses

Wall Street’s four-day rally paused today with the major indexes finishing mixed as optimism over a potential end to the Federal Reserve’s string of interest rates clashed with investors’ desire to take profits after the run higher.

With slowing economic growth and little evidence of inflation, the market is getting more optimistic that the Fed, which meets next Tuesday, would stop raising rates by May.

Investors looked ahead to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech tonight to the Economic Club of New York for further evidence of a halt to rate hikes.

However, with stocks up for four straight sessions last week and the Dow Jones industrials and Standard & Poor’s 500 index at highs not seen since May 2001, confidence in the market’s ability to keep advancing could be faltering. And the impetus to lock in profits ahead of the Fed meeting could prove tempting for cautious investors.

“There’s really not a lot of information here to work with, and I think the market’s taking a rest,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank. ”We’re still a few weeks away from first-quarter earnings, so all you have to focus on is a slowing economy and interest rates.”

The Dow fell 5.12, or 0.05%, to 11,274.53.

Broader stock indicators were narrowly mixed. The S&P lost 2.17, or 0.17%, to 1,305.08, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 7.63, or 0.33%, to 2,314.11.