NEW YORK - Wall Street closed slightly lower in erratic trading Thursday as investors uneasy about the credit markets and record-high oil prices took little solace from reports on new-home sales and durable goods orders.
Another report showed that orders of big-ticket items, one gauge of business spending, fell 1.7 percent in September, after August's 5.3 percent drop. The economic data drew close attention by Wall Street as investors look for clues to determine if the Federal Reserve will lower rates at its meeting next week.
Meanwhile, investors also had to contend with higher energy prices - crude oil spiked to an all-time high of $90.60 a barrel before settling slightly lower - and credit worries continued to dog the market.
The Dow fell 3.33, or 0.02 percent, to 13,671.92 after changing direction several times. The blue chip index was briefly down more than 100 points.
Broader stock indicators also fell. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 1.48, or 0.10 percent, to 1,514.40, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 23.90, or 0.86 percent, to 2,750.86.
Treasury bond prices stalled as investors moved in and out of the stock market. The yield onthe benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to the price, was unchanged at 4.35 percent from its close on Wednesday and then rose to 4.38 percent in after-hours trading.
Investors appeared unsure both about the direction of the economy and whether the central bank will be compelled to lower interest rates again to boost spending. The central bank reduced rates last month by a halfpercentage-point.
Meanwhile, the housing report released Thursday might not be enough to sway the Fed in either direction. Dave Seiders, the National Association of Home Builders' chief economist, said some of the data in the government report might not give an accurate picture of the industry.
"If you look at the composition of this, all of the increase was recorded in the West region, which from other sources we know actually is very weak," he said. "So I have a problem with the legitimacy of the reported increase in September."
And mixed earnings reports added to the uncertainty. Motorola Inc. and data-storage specialist EMC Corp. showed respectable growth, but Comcast Corp. and Symantec Corp. disappointed investors.
The dollar fell against most other major currencies, except the yen, while gold prices rose.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 4.74, or 0.58 percent, to 806.11.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a ratio of 3-to-2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 4.07 billion shares, up from 3.88 billion Wednesday.
In Asian trading, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.45 percent, but Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 1.78 percent. In European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.45 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 1.32 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 1.51 percent.
Business, Pages 36 on 10/26/2007