U.S. stocks turn lower on Wall Street after Kerry denounces attack in Syria last week

8/26/2013

NEW YORK— The stock market is closing slightly lower today after Secretary of State John Kerry ratcheted up pressure against Syria.

The Dow Jones industrial fell 64 points, or 0.4 percent, to 14,946 today.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell six points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,656. The Nasdaq composite was down a fraction of a point at 3,657.

Stocks sagged in the last hour of trading after Mr. Kerry stepped up criticism of Syria, calling last week’s attack a “moral obscenity.”

Stocks started the day higher after a handful of corporate deals were announced.

Amgen surged after the biotech giant said it plans to buy Onyx Pharmaceuticals for $10.4 billion.

Three stocks fell for every two that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was very low at 2.4 billion shares.