Stocks Wave Off Housing Surge

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 17, 2009 8:50 AM CDT
Stocks Wave Off Housing Surge
Traders and specialists work the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, March 16, 2009.   (AP Photo/David Karp)

Stocks settled into a holding pattern at the open today, as optimism over a rosy housing report was tempered by a dividend cut from Alcoa. Stocks vacillated between gains and losses, with the Dow recently down 28, while the S&P fell about 2 points and the Nasdaq rose 5. The economic news was good—housing starts leapt 22.2% in February, sending home producers higher. But Alcoa dropped10% after it cut its dividend to save cash. (More stock market stories.)

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