Market turns back from milestones

NEW YORK, Feb. 29 (UPI) -- Stock gains in New York faded Wednesday, leaving two milestones behind on concerns consumer spending could retreat temporarily.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in a speech prepared for the House Finance Committee, said the recent spike in gasoline prices would be temporary but would, until it subsided, reduce spending power among consumers.

The Commerce Department Wednesday morning said the U.S. gross domestic product rose 3 percent October through December, better than the 2.8 percent figure from an earlier estimate.

The Dow Jones industrial average, which closed Tuesday above 13,000 for the first time since May 2008, dropped 53.05 points or 0.41 percent to 12,952.07. The Standard & Poor's 500 index shed 6.50 points or 0.47 percent to 1,365.68. The Nasdaq composite index hit the 3,000-mark for the first time since 2000, then backed up, dropping 19.87 points or 0.67 percent to 2,966.89.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,039 stocks advanced and 2,006 declined on a volume of 3.9 billion shares traded.

The benchmark 10-year treasury note rose 1/32 to yield 1.974 percent.

The euro fell to $1.3329 from Tuesday's $1.3462. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 81.26 yen from 80.47 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index was flat, gaining 0.01 percent, 0.72 points, to 9,723.24.

In London, the FTSE 100 index fell 0.95 percent, 56.40, to 5,871.51.