Sam Collins

Dow and S&P May Smash Through Resistance

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Despite gains by key technology stocks Dell (DELL) and Intel (INTC) on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) suffered its first loss after eight consecutive gains. After opening higher, prices sagged on news that consumer confidence levels were lower in August than in July.

Boeing (BA) lost part of Thursday's [Aug. 27] big gain, falling 1.8% versus a rise of 8.4% on Thursday.

But it was the health care sector that took the brunt of the selling. All three of the Dow's drug stocks fell: Merck (MRK) took a 1.9% hit, Johnson and Johnson (JNJ) fell 0.33%, and Pfizer (PFE) was down 0.3%.

The Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index slipped to 65.7 in August, down from 66 in July. But the Commerce Department said that consumer spending rose slightly in July, and that personal income was unchanged.

At the close, the Dow was down 36 points to 9,544, and the S&P 500 (SPX) lost 2 points to 1,029, but the Nasdaq (NASD) rose a point to 2,029.

The NYSE traded just less than 1.2 billion shares with advancers slightly ahead of decliners. On the Nasdaq, 702 million shares changed hands with decliners ahead by almost 2-to-1.