Investors preoccupied with inflation extended Wall Street’s decline today, selling stocks sharply lower in response to a ballooning United States trade deficit.

A cautious stock market finished the session mixed in the US today as a troubling top-level management shake-up at Boeing Co pressured blue chips, while technology shares saw strong buying.

Falling oil prices and a broker upgrade of the semiconductor sector pushed stocks higher today, enticing buyers back into the market after the previous session’s losses.

A strong consumer spending and earnings report failed to fend off the pre-holiday doldrums on Wall Street today as stocks finished an uninspired session mixed. However, the major indexes managed a week of solid gains for the first time in over a month.