NEW YORK — One of Wall Street’s quietest days in months ended mixed after investors spent the day waiting to see whether Slovakia would block an expansion of Europe’s financial rescue program.
Slovakia’s decision came after U.S. stock markets closed. That country’s parliament rejected a bill to strengthen the powers of a regional rescue fund. The sixteen other countries that use the euro have already signed off on the bill, but the measure requires unanimous support.
There are ways around Slovakia’s opposition, but the move temporarily sets back efforts to address Europe’s debt jam, which has been the most important issue for financial markets for months. Investors worry that if Europe doesn’t contain its debt crisis, a default by the Greek government could deliver a devastating blow to European banks and cause them to freeze up lending.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended down nearly 17 points after moving between small gains and losses throughout the day. The index traded within a range of only 82 points, the narrowest since July 20. The relatively tepid trading came a day after the Dow surged 330 points, its largest increase since Aug. 11.
The Dow lost 16.88 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 11,416.30. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.65, or 0.1 percent, to 1,195.54. The Nasdaq composite rose 16.98, or 0.7 percent, to 2,583.03.
Aluminum maker Alcoa Inc. plunged 5.6 percent in after-hours trading after reporting that its earnings slumped from the previous quarter, suggesting demand from Europe has slowed.
Moves of more than 100 points for the Dow have become commonplace as traders react swiftly to every whiff of news coming out of Europe. The S&P 500 is up 8.8 percent since last Tuesday, when it traded 20 percent below its April peak. Had the S&P closed at that level, it would have put the index into what analysts call a bear market. The index is still down 5.1 percent for the year.
