NEW YORK, Dec 15 (AFP) - US shares drifted lower Wednesday as a jump in crude oil prices and renewed dollar weakness sapped some of the enthusiasm over the big Sprint-Nextel wireless merger.
At 1800 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 15.75 points (0.15 percent) to 10,660.70 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 2.40 points (0.11 percent) to 2,157.44.
The Standard and Poor's 500 broad-market index dipped 1.12 points (0.09 percent) to 1,202.26.
The widely anticipated 35 billion dollar merger between Sprint and Nextel and strong results from Lehman Brothers were positive factors at the opening.
But offsetting that, New York crude oil prices surged 1.67 dollars to 43.49 dollars a barrel after weaker-than-expected US inventory data.
Also hurting sentiment, the dollar slumped after US Treasury figures showed foreign appetite for US assets declining by more than had been expected.
Still, analysts said the stock market has had strong momentum in recent weeks, highlighted by Tuesday's rally after the Federal Reserve boosted interest rates by a quarter-point and reaffirmed a positive economic outlook.
"Today is nothing more than a pit stop for the market," said David Sowerby, portfolio manager at Loomis Sayles.
"But the last few days of business news have been decidedly positive, inviting the significant amount of cash on the sidelines into the market."
Among active shares, Sprint fell 62 cents to 24.48 and Nextel shed 55 cents to 29.44 after the two firms agreed to a 35 billion dollar merger creating the number three US wireless carrier.
Motorola, which makes handsets compatible with the two firms, rose 24 cents to 17.09.
Lehman Brothers climbed 2.14 to 87.79 after reporting stronger-than-expected profits for its fiscal fourth quarter.
Hotel and gaming group Las Vegas Sands surged 18.15 or 61.86 percent to 47.49 in the first day of trading after its initial public offering.
Nortel Networks fell 10 cents to 3.59 after the Canadian communications equipment giant issued partially revised results dating back to 2001 and said sales for 2004 were likely to fall short of 2003's total.
Media giant Time Warner rose 26 cents to 19.61 after agreeing to settle a probe of accounting irregularities by paying a 210 million dollar fine.
Bonds rallied. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond fell to 4.086 percent from 4.132 percent Tuesday and that on the 30-year bond to 4.720 percent from 4.779 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
12/15/2004 18:06 GMT - AFP