U.S. Stocks Fall 2nd Day As Investors Weigh Fed Comments

U.S. stocks fell a second day, following the biggest annual rally for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in 16 years, as investors weighed comments from Federal Reserve officials on stimulus and the economy’s strength.

General Motors Co. fell 3.4 percent after December sales missed estimates. Sprint Corp. dropped 4.4 percent as Stifel Nicolaus & Co. downgraded the mobile-phone operator to sell from hold. FireEye Inc. (FEYE) soared 39 percent after acquiring Mandiant Corp. in a $1.05 billion deal that consolidates providers of services that protect computer networks against hackers and spies.

The S&P 500 (SPX) dropped less than 1 point to 1,831.37 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 28.64 points, or 0.2 percent, to 16,469.99. About 5.3 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 11 percent below the 30-day average.

Source : bloomberg