Stocks Close With Little Change on a Slow Day

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS August 27, 2014

The stock market drifted on Wednesday and closed with little change on a light day of trading ahead of the Labor Day holiday weekend.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index edged up 0.10 of a point to close at 2,000.12. The S.&P. closed above 2,000 on Tuesday for the first time. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 15.31 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,122.01. The Nasdaq composite index slipped 1.02 points, to 4,569.62.

TAKING A BREATHER: One reason the market indexes were little changed on Wednesday may be that investors are catching their breath following the latest milestone for the S.&P. 500, said David Lebovitz, global market strategist at JPMorgan Chase. "We've achieved this nice, even round number and it's time for investors to take stock of the current situation before things continue to move higher," he said.

SECTOR VIEW: Five of the 10 sectors in the S.&P. 500 index rose slightly, led by utilities. Best Buy posted the biggest gain among companies in the S.&P. 500, adding $1.89, or 6.3 percent, to $31.69. Garmin declined most, falling $2.87, or 5 percent, to $54.59.

Interactive Feature | Standard & Poor's 500-Stock Index

ELEGANT RESULTS: Tiffany rose 98 cents, or 1 percent, to $101.75. The jewelry company's latest quarterly earnings exceeded Wall Street's forecasts.

EARNINGS BEAT: Express surged $1.95, or 12.8 percent, to $16.45 after the clothing retailer reported financial results that exceeded analysts' expectations.

PRESCRIPTION TO BUY: The medical device maker Medtronic bought NGC Medical S.p.A., a privately held Italian company, for $350 million. NGC manages cardiovascular suites, operating rooms and intensive care units for hospitals. Medtronic already held a 30 percent stake in the business. Medtronic slipped 16 cents to $63.36.

LACKLUSTER FORECAST: The Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday that it expected the nation's economy to grow by just 1.5 percent this year. The forecast reflects the severe winter weather that hurt growth in the first-quarter.

BONDS AND COMMODITIES: Bond prices rose, sending the yield on the 10-year Treasury note down to 2.36 percent, from 2.40 percent late Tuesday. Crude oil for October delivery rose 2 cents to setlle at $93.88 a barrel in New York. In metals trading, gold fell $1.80 to $1,283.40 an ounce.

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