WALL STREET ROUNDUP

U.S. stocks meandered between small gains and losses Monday, cooling off after a rally that had pushed the Standard & Poor’s 500 index above 1,500 for the first time since December 2007. Encouraging news about manufacturing provided an early boost, but stocks fell later after a report on the pace of home sales fell short of expectations. The Dow Jones transportation index, a proxy for future economic activity, edged higher, notching its tenth straight increase and its twelfth gain in the past 13 trading days. A half-hour after trading began, the National Association of Realtors said that its index of pending home sales fell in December, suggesting that sales of previously occupied homes may slow in the coming months. The report, which was weaker than many economists had expected, helped push stocks lower for much of the morning. They were roughly flat by midday, and spent the afternoon swapping small bumps and dips. The Dow closed down 14.05 points, or 0.1 percent, at 13,881.93. The S&P 500 fell 2.78, or 0.2 percent, to 1,500.18. The Nasdaq composite index added 4.59, or 0.2 percent, to 3,154. The Dow and the S&P 500 are rapidly approaching their all-time closing highs, reached on Oct. 9, 2007. The Dow is about 282 points below its high of 14,164.53; the S&P 500 is 65 points shy of its record of 1,565. Strong corporate earnings helped push the S&P 500 through the 1,500 milestone Friday after several calm, relatively news-free weeks. In addition to companies’ performance, traders have been encouraged by signals that housing market is improving steadily and hiring is picking up, albeit slowly. There will plenty of fresh data to drive trading this week, including retail sales, economic growth and the government’s report on hiring and employment in January, which is due out Friday. More than onefifth of the companies in the S&P 500 will report fourth-quarter earnings this week. There is agreement among economists and analysts that the economy slowed in the fourth quarter, he said, and this week’s numbers will help answer the question of “how slow, and how much did it impact employment.” The yield in the benchmark 10year Treasury note rose to 1.97 percent from 1.95 percent late Friday, reflecting lower demand for ultrasafe investments. After Monday’s factory orders report, the yield rose briefly above 2 percent for the first time since April. A bond’s yield rises as demand for it decreases.