July 30, 2012-Market Edge Lower in Choppy Session

Stocks finished a choppy session with mild losses. With traders looking ahead to key information due out later in the week, the market was unable to find significant momentum. Wall Street was unable to build on the gains posted late last week. Meanwhile, traders resisted the temptation to take substantial profits after the recent run up, as hope still exists for progress on a solution for the euro-zone debt crisis or for signs of additional stimulus from the Federal Reserve. After indications pointed to a likely bout of profit-taking in the early going, stocks were actually able to post some modest gains by the mid-morning. A mid-day slide reversed that advance, however, and shares held below the flat line through much of the rest of the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 2.65 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to close at 13,073.01. The gains last week allowed the Dow to push back above the 13,000 mark. The S&P 500 dipped less than a point to close at 1,385.30.