US stocks fall, snapping streak of records

In this May 2, 2013, photo, ING US Chairman and CEO Rodney Martin, Jr., right, watches as Getco specialist Peter Giacchi calls out prices during the IPO of Martin’s company, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. US stocks fell Thursday, May 9, 2013, as buyers took a breather after a slate of successive record closes. AP PHOTO/RICHARD DREW

NEW YORK—US stocks fell Thursday, as buyers took a breather after a slate of successive record closes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.50 (0.15 percent) to 15,082.62.

The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 6.02 (0.37 percent) to 1,626.67, snapping a string of five straight days of setting fresh closing records.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gave up 4.10 (0.12 percent) to 3,409.17.

The losses came on a day of mixed earnings reports and coincided with the US dollar breaching a key trading level against the yen, topping 100 yen for the first time in four years.

“In the final 90 minutes of the session, equities experienced volatility as the US dollar rallied above a key technical threshold against the Japanese yen which pushed stocks lower,” said Charles Schwab & Co. in a market note.

Art Hogan of Lazard Capital Markets downplayed the correlation between a strong dollar and weaker equities, and attributed Thursday’s modest decline primarily to market “exhaustion” after the rally in recent days.

Michael James of Wedbush Morgan Securities said traders have also been speculating that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke may signal a retreat on stimulus during a public appearance Friday in Chicago.

Petroleum company Apache Corp. missed earnings expectations, but rose 4.8 percent after announcing plans to divest $4 billion in assets by the end of 2013, $2 billion of which will be used to repurchase 30 million shares.

Online coupon company Groupon gained 11.5 percent after reporting earnings that met expectations and $601.4 million in revenues, more than the $588.9 million forecast.

Electric car manufacturer Tesla surged 24.0 percent after earnings came in triple expectations, and it raised its forecast for number of cars to be delivered in 2013. The company’s Tesla Model S also earned an exceptionally high 99 out of a possible 100 from Consumer Reports.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 1.81 percent from 1.76 percent late Wednesday, while the yield on the 30-year increased to 3.00 percent from 2.98 percent. Bond prices move inversely to yields.