NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks retreated Friday as end-of-quarter portfolio adjustments and uncertainties about earnings and the Kosovo crisis kept the market from extending Thursday's rally.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 14.15, or 0.14 percent, to 9822.24, while the technology-laden Nasdaq slid 15.52, or 0.64 percent, to 2419.28. The S&P 500 fell 7.19, or 0.56 percent, to 1282.80.The Dow managed to come back from an early 89-point loss but posted a loss of 81 points, or 0.82 percent, for the week.
Advancers outpaced decliners 1,594 to 1,380 as 694 million shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber led the losers among Dow components, slipping 2 3/8, or 4.5 percent, to 49 1/2 despite announcing plans to invest $57 million to expand its Canadian passenger tire plant in Valleyfield, Quebec. The expansion is expected to boost production capacity 40 percent and create about 400 new jobs.
Big gains in Union Carbide Corp. and AlliedSignal Inc. helped limit the Dow's loss. Union Carbide rose 2 7/16 to 46 3/4, and AlliedSignal climbed 2 3/8 to 50 3/8.
Alan Ackerman, senior vice president at Fahnestock & Co., said Thursday's rally led to talk on Wall Street of another run at Dow 10000, but it was "tempered" by a lot of uncertainties as the market headed into the weekend.
He said some of the market action was related to the so-called window dressing, which involves portfolio adjustments at the end of each quarter.
He said the market also faced earnings preannouncements, which refer to the practice of some companies of announcing earnings projections ahead of the actual reporting of quarterly earnings results.
On top of these, Ackerman said, "The developments in Kosovo are beginning to rise to the surface. The action so far is contained to airstrikes but more and more experts are saying the U.S. cannot win this one without committing troops."
Most oil stocks rose as the price of oil jumped to a 5 1/2-month high after a fire at Chevron Corp.'s Richmond, Calif., refinery and an analyst at Salomon Smith Barney upgraded oil exploration and production company Plains Resources Inc., which jumped 1 1/4 to 14 1/4.
Chevron eased 1/8 to 86 13/16, but its fellow Dow component Exxon Corp. edged up 1/8 to 71 9/16. Tosco Corp. climbed 2 1/8 to 26 3/16 to lead the oilers, while Transocean Offshore Inc. jumped 2 to 28 7/8 to pace the drillers.
Most airline stocks gave back Thursday's gains, driving the Dow transportation average 29.59 lower to 3260.11.
US Airways Group paced the sector's descent, dropping 2 1/4 to 47 3/16. American Airlines parent AMR Corp. slid 1 3/16 to 56 11/16, Delta Air Lines fell 7/8 to 67 13/16, but United Airlines parent UAL Corp. added 7/16 to 77 1/4.
Consumer confidence fell in late March, according to the latest survey from the University of Michigan. The index came in at 105.7, down from 108.1 in February.
Former Federal Reserve Governor Lyle Gramley said Friday he believes there is better than a 50 percent chance the Fed will adopt a tightening bias at its Tuesday policy meeting, though an actual interest rate hike is unlikely.
In an interview with Bridge News, Gramley said adopting a policy directive that is biased toward a tighter policy stance would "seem to be the prudent thing for a central bank" to do because the U.S. economy is continuing to expand at a relatively rapid pace.
Autobytel.com was the session's biggest gainer after the online auto shopping network's successful initial public offering. The IPO was priced at 23, opened at 53 and quickly hit a high of 58 before pulling back slightly in the last hour of the session to close at 40 1/4, a 75 percent jump from its offering price.
Cort Business Services Corp. followed, soaring 6, or 35.8 percent, to 22 3/4 after the rental furniture supplier said it will be bought out by an investment group for $453 million.
Cybershop International Inc. also rose 2 1/4, or 20.7 percent, to 13 1/8 after the online retailer said it plans to launch an online auction Web site, CyberShop Auctions.