Stocks suffered only modest losses after recovering from a steep sell-off spurred by new hints of disappointing profits and inflationary pressures.
The Dow's losses were fairly broad-based, with only one of its 30 components, Disney, falling more than two points.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by an 8to-5 margin on the NYSE, with 1,098 up, 1,774 down and 518 unchanged.
The Standard and Poor's 500-stock list fell 6.44 to 912.59, the NYSE composite index fell 3.57 to 477.06, and the American Stock Exchange composite index fell 3.43 to 666.84.
The Nasdaq composite index managed to post a small gain, rising 0.62 to 1,639.87 after rebounding from an 18point deficit.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies, which on Wednesday fell for the first time in 13 sessions, slipped an additional 0.97 to 435.93. The index had also closed at record highs for nine straight sessions before Wednesday.
