U.S. Stocks fell on Wednesday, but pared their losses in the final trading minutes to end mixed, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing higher for the eighth straight day.
The Dow edged up 6.74 points, or 0.06 percent, to 12,239.89, refreshing the record of longest series of consecutive rising.
The leading Dow component Disney jumped 5.29 percent after the media conglomerate posted a profit that beat forecasts and at least three brokerages raised their price targets on the firm.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 3.69 points, or 0.28 percent, to 1,320.88 and the Nasdaq was down 7.98 points, or 0.29 percent, to 2,789.07.
At a hearing in the House Budget Committee, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke again expressed concerns about high unemployment, saying unemployment rate is likely to remain high " for some time" even after the biggest two-month drop since 1958. This comment pressured the market, sending stocks to fall.
Among the key S&P 500 sectors, energy, basic material and financial stocks led the declining, while consumer discretionary and telecom were higher.
Energy giants including Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips fell. Meanwhile, AIG decreased 2.97 percent as the insurer giant said it will take a fourth-quarter charge of 4.1 billion dollars for raising loss reserves at global property insurer Chartis. Wells Fargo shares declined almost 3 percent after the banking giant said CFO Howard Atkins will retire.
In the day's earning news, Coca-Cola reported higher-than- expected quarterly sales, thanks to its third straight quarter of sales growth in North America. Its shares rose 0.45 percent to 63. 15.
Polo Ralph Lauren soared almost 8.28 percent after the retailer posted a bigger-than-expected jump in quarterly profit on strong clothing sales over the holiday season.
Shares of NYSE Euronext soared almost 15 percent after the firm confirmed advanced merger talks with Deutsche Boerse. And encouraged by this news, shares of rivals Nasdaq OMX rose 6.73 percent, shares of Intercontinental Exchange, CBOE and CME were also higher.
In other markets, the dollar slipped against a basket of currencies as Bernanke's testimony pushed U.S. Treasury yields slightly lower, making the greenback less attractive. New York crude oil benchmark dropped further as U.S. oil inventories rose for a fourth straight week. Gold prices traded above 1,365 dollars an ounce.
The Dow edged up 6.74 points, or 0.06 percent, to 12,239.89, refreshing the record of longest series of consecutive rising.
The leading Dow component Disney jumped 5.29 percent after the media conglomerate posted a profit that beat forecasts and at least three brokerages raised their price targets on the firm.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 3.69 points, or 0.28 percent, to 1,320.88 and the Nasdaq was down 7.98 points, or 0.29 percent, to 2,789.07.
At a hearing in the House Budget Committee, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke again expressed concerns about high unemployment, saying unemployment rate is likely to remain high " for some time" even after the biggest two-month drop since 1958. This comment pressured the market, sending stocks to fall.
Among the key S&P 500 sectors, energy, basic material and financial stocks led the declining, while consumer discretionary and telecom were higher.
Energy giants including Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips fell. Meanwhile, AIG decreased 2.97 percent as the insurer giant said it will take a fourth-quarter charge of 4.1 billion dollars for raising loss reserves at global property insurer Chartis. Wells Fargo shares declined almost 3 percent after the banking giant said CFO Howard Atkins will retire.
In the day's earning news, Coca-Cola reported higher-than- expected quarterly sales, thanks to its third straight quarter of sales growth in North America. Its shares rose 0.45 percent to 63. 15.
Polo Ralph Lauren soared almost 8.28 percent after the retailer posted a bigger-than-expected jump in quarterly profit on strong clothing sales over the holiday season.
Shares of NYSE Euronext soared almost 15 percent after the firm confirmed advanced merger talks with Deutsche Boerse. And encouraged by this news, shares of rivals Nasdaq OMX rose 6.73 percent, shares of Intercontinental Exchange, CBOE and CME were also higher.
In other markets, the dollar slipped against a basket of currencies as Bernanke's testimony pushed U.S. Treasury yields slightly lower, making the greenback less attractive. New York crude oil benchmark dropped further as U.S. oil inventories rose for a fourth straight week. Gold prices traded above 1,365 dollars an ounce.
