NEW YORK (AP) - Banks and other financial firms tugged the stock market slightly lower Thursday as a mixed batch of economic reports and earnings results gave investors little reason to push the market up.
Barclays sank following news that New York's attorney general sued the British bank, claiming that it favored high-frequency traders over large institutions in its private-trading platform, known as a "dark pool."
It was only the third loss in 10 trading days for the Standard & Poor's 500 index, which closed at its latest record high just under a week ago, on June 20. Many investors have been saying stocks could be due for a pullback given their rapid rise recently.
Phil Orlando, chief equity strategist at Federated Investors, said a short slump in the summer months wouldn't come as a surprise. "I fully expect to see a hiccup here, but I wouldn't get too worried about it," he said. "It's probably going to set us up for a nice end-of-the-year rally."
The Standard & Poor's 500 index sank 2.31 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 1,957.22, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 0.71 of a point to 4,379.05.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 21.38 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 16,846.13.