By Nick Godt
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks ended a low-volume session down slightly on Wednesday, though well off earlier lows, after a weak report on housing construction and earnings in the technology sector dimmed investor sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU 10,426, -11.11, -0.11%) lost 11 points, or 0.1%, to end at 10,426, weighed down by 12 of its 30 components, especially tech-oriented ones such as Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ 50.48, -0.84, -1.64%) , IBM (IBM 128.15, -0.48, -0.37%) and Intel (INTC 20.12, -0.20, -0.98%) . The S&P 500 index (SPX 1,110, -0.52, -0.05%) fell 0.5 points to 1,109.80, with the S&P's tech sector falling the most, weighed by a 10% drop in shares of Autodesk (ADSK 24.20, -2.80, -10.37%) , whose outlook disappointed. The Nasdaq Composite (COMP 2,193, -10.64, -0.48%) fell 6 points, or 0.3%, at 2,197. |
