* Higher bond yields, dollar pressure futures
* McDonald's falls on weaker-than-expected Nov sales
* Dow off 0.2 pct, S&P off 0.1 pct, Nasdaq up 0.04 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news see []
(Updates to midmorning)
By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK, Dec 8 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were little changed
on Wednesday, weighed by gains in the dollar and higher bond
yields, but analysts said they expect the market to regroup
before attempting a rally into year-end.
Benchmark yields hovered at their highest in six months,
while the dollar index <.DXY> gained 0.4 percent as the deal to
extend tax cuts intensified worries about inflation and the
costs of the government's debt burden. For details, see
[]
Higher bond yields make it more expensive for consumers and
businesses to borrow, while stocks and the dollar have moved in
opposite directions of late. A rise in yields and the dollar
could also draw money away from equities.
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For a graphic on bond market losses on Tuesday, see
http://r.reuters.com/ruj29q
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McDonald's Corp <MCD.N> dragged on the Dow, falling 2.1
percent to $78.61 after reporting weaker-than-expected global
sales for November. []
Analysts expect the market to trade sideways for a few days
before mounting a final leg up going into the end of the year.
"There's still a lot of institutions and mutual funds that
are underinvested and underperforming this market, so any and
all pullbacks will be short-lived as people continue to push
money in and try to catch up with the market," said Ryan
Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment
Research in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> edged down 16.92
points, or 0.15 percent, at 11,342.24. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> was off 1.57 points, or 0.13 percent, to
1,222.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> added 1.09 points,
or 0.04 percent, to 2,599.58.
The S&P faces resistance at the 1,228 level, which
represents the 61.8 percent Fibonacci retracement of the
2007-2009 bear market slide, a key technical indicator. The
level was confirmed as strong resistance Tuesday after the
index broke through during the session but closed below it.
The S&P 500 hit a two-year intraday high on Tuesday, but
closed with a small gain.
Steady economic improvement should fuel stock gains through
2011, according to a Reuters poll of investors and strategists,
but international concerns could limit advances in the second
half of the year. []
(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
