Late slide erases an early gain in U.S. stocks

6/24/2014

NEW YORK — Stocks are closing lower after an afternoon slide erased early gains in major U.S. indexes.

The market was slightly higher in the morning today following encouraging news on new home sales and consumer confidence. Stocks drifted lower in the afternoon and ended in the red for the day.

Walgreen fell 2 percent after the drugstore chain’s results fell short of Wall Street’s expectations. Exxon Mobil lost 1.6 percent, the most of the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones industrial average.

The Dow fell 119 points, or 0.7 percent, to 16,818.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 12 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,949 and the Nasdaq composite fell 18 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,350.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.58 percent.