Stocks closed mixed as optimism wanes

Stock prices were mixed in New York yesterday as investor optimism about second-quarter earnings gave way to nagging concerns…

Stock prices were mixed in New York yesterday as investor optimism about second-quarter earnings gave way to nagging concerns about interest rates.

At the close of trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 17.73, or by 0.2%, at 10,552.56 after having risen more than 115 points earlier in the session. The Standard and Poor's 500 fell 1.55 to 1,314.23, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 8.32 to 2,545.67.

Advancing issues barely outnumbered decliners on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,491 up, 1,456 down and 592 unchanged.

NYSE volume totalled 609.75 million shares, against 688.21 million in the previous session.

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The NYSE composite index fell 0.63 to 623.34, and the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 2.87 to 772.02. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 0.35 to 442.81.