* Chicago PMI much better than expected
* Marvell, Nvidia upgraded to 'buy' at Kaufman Bros
* Dow off 0.1 pct, S&P off 0.2 pct, Nasdaq off 0.2 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click STXNEWS/US
(Updates to late afternoon, changes byline)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Dec 30 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged lower on
Wednesday as investors took profits in some of the year's
better performers, offsetting a much better-than-expected
report on Midwest business activity.
Companies including Microsoft Corp <MSFT.O>, which is up
59 percent since the year's start, was among the biggest drags
on the Dow and the Nasdaq. The stock slipped 1.6 percent to
$30.88.
Shares of Oracle Corp <ORCL.O>, up 40 percent since the
start of the year, was down 0.4 percent at $24.91.
"We've had such a nice run up over the last two weeks that
I think the best-case scenario is probably baked into stock
prices at this point. I wouldn't be surprised if people wanted
to take some money off the table," now that year end is
approaching, said Angel Mata, managing director of listed
equity trading at Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets in
Baltimore.
Among economic data, the Institute for Supply
Management-Chicago business barometer surged to a four-year
high, topping forecasts, on a recovery in employment and
accelerating new orders. For details, see []
Shares of DuPont <DD.N> was up 0.4 percent at $34.03.
While investors looked to the data for signs a recovery is
taking hold, some traders have moved to safer assets like the
dollar to lock in profits after a strong 2009.
The U.S. dollar hit a three-month high against the yen on
year-end flows in thin trade and views the U.S. economy is on
the road to recovery. []
The Dow Jones industrial average <> was down 10.50
points, or 0.10 percent, at 10,534.91. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> was down 2.17 points, or 0.19 percent, at
1,124.03. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was down 4.43
points, or 0.19 percent, at 2,283.97.
In Tuesday's session, indexes ended modestly lower and
snapped a six-day streak of gains.
The Nasdaq Times Square, New York, building was briefly
evacuated because of an investigation of a suspicious vehicle
near the building, but Nasdaq said trading was not affected.
Semiconductor stocks gained after Kaufman Bros upgraded
both Marvell Technology Group Ltd <MRVL.O> and Nvidia Corp
<NVDA.O> to "buy," saying they could benefit from improved
demand for personal computers. []
The Philadelphia Semiconductor index <.SOXX> gained 1.2
percent, while Marvell added 2.3 percent to $20.72 and Nvidia
shot up 3.7 percent to $18.70, both in Nasdaq trading.
(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Additional reporting by
Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Jan Paschal)
