Cash flowing into mutual funds helped prop up some sectors of the market, including technology shares, but on the whole, investors were waiting for reports tomorrow on December sales for major retailers and Friday on December employment.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 9.63, or 0.1 percent, at 10,529.03.

Broader stock indicators closed higher. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index edged up 2.66, or 0.2 percent, to 1,126.33, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 20.31, or 1 percent, to 2,077.68

"This is a fairly mild consolidation," said Russ Koesterich, U.S. equity strategist at State Street Corp. in Boston. "We’ve had a good run since December, and the market needs some time to digest that ahead of the earnings season, which really gets under way in the next week or two."

Part of the weakness in blue chip shares today was attributed to profit-taking following a consistent runup since late November, when the Dow Jones industrial average was hovering just above 9,600.

Technology shares went against the downward trend, gaining some ground on a bullish analyst report on Intel Corp. that lent support to semiconductor shares. Intel rose $1 to $33.90.

Some skittishness about the upcoming corporate earnings season was evident in the market as investors pushed the shares of Dow component Alcoa Inc. down 29 cents at $38.20 ahead of its earnings report tomorrow.

Brian Pears, head equity trader at Victory Capital Management in Cleveland, said that what little support the market was getting came not from any solid news from earnings or economics but from the "January effect," a seasonal flow of money into stocks and mutual funds.

"It’s more a question of liquidity than fundamentals," Pears said. "We’re seeing some decent inflows to start the year. ... Mutual fund managers aren’t being paid to manage cash right now, so we have to invest it."

No major economic indicators came out today. Yesterday, a report showed that U.S. factory orders fell by 1.4 percent in November, the biggest decline in seven months, and a separate report showed slower-than-expected growth in the services sector.

Some traders were looking ahead with trepidation to the December employment report. An indication of poor job growth could put discourage investors that this key sector of the economy is still struggling.

Economists will get another important indicator of consumer spending trends — another key element of the economy — tomorrow when major retailers report sales for December.

Biotechnology company Monsanto Co. was up $1.09 at $29.20 after reporting first-quarter operating earnings of 4 cents per share, beating Wall Street estimates of a penny per share.

Duke Energy Corp. jumped $1.17 to $21.20 after announcing it would continue paying a quarterly dividend.

Wall Street analysts had said yesterday they expected the energy company to slash its dividend as it cuts back on its debt load.

Declining issues barely outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was moderate.