NEW YORK (AP) - A three-day winning streak for U.S. stocks ended quietly Thursday. A decline in bond yields sent bank stocks lower, while utilities and phone companies moved higher.
Stocks traded lower all day as investors took some profits. Banks took the biggest losses, followed by metals companies. With bond yields down, investors snapped up phone and utility company shares. Household goods makers turned higher late in the day, but that wasn't enough to cancel out losses elsewhere.
The Dow Jones industrial average slid 19.86 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,985.19. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 3.64 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,115.48. The Nasdaq composite declined 16.03 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,958.62.
Stocks are still up for the week. Over the last few days the S&P 500 has reached its highest levels since last July.
Oil prices have done the same.