Investors sought safer positions after two days of robust gains, and ahead of a much-anticipated jobs report due Friday. In addition, the Institute for Supply Management was to release its report on manufacturing activity tomorrow.

"People are a little afraid to step out ahead of those two numbers, especially after the magnitude of these two days of gains," said Russ Koesterich, U.S. equities strategist with State Street Corp. in Boston. "You’ve had a nice run-up since last week’s lows, so it’s time to take a little bit off the table."

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 24.00, or 0.2 percent, at 10,357.70, after adding 222 points in the previous two sessions. The index of 30 actively traded industrial shares was down 0.9 percent for the quarter.

The broader gauges also were fractionally lower for the session. The Nasdaq composite index declined 6.41, or 0.3 percent, to 1,994.22, for a quarterly loss of 0.6 percent.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index, which lost 0.79, or 0.1 percent, to close at 1,126.21 today, was the only major index to post a gain for the quarter. It was up 1.6 percent for the period.

The Commerce Department reported a 0.3 percent rise in factory orders in February, a welcome bounce after January’s 0.9 percent drop. The rebound wasn’t as strong as the 1.5 percent increase economists had forecast, however.

Demand for "durable" goods — costly manufactured products such as automobiles, household appliances and computers — rose by 2.5 percent in February. But "nondurable" goods, such as food and clothing, fell 2 percent.

Economic reports have shown manufacturing improving, but many factories are operating below capacity and jobs are continuing to evaporate. Months of slow jobs growth has made investors nervous about the recovery, and a great deal of significance has been attached to the government’s March report on job creation.

Meanwhile, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps about a third of the world’s oil, signaled that it would go ahead with a scheduled 4 percent production cut, despite surging fuel costs. Analysts said the move could drive crude oil prices above $40 a barrel, which would mean higher costs at the pump for U.S. drivers.

Traders had anticipated OPEC would carry out the cuts, and oil futures for May fell 49 cents to $35.76 per barrel today. High fuel costs remains a top concern on Wall Street, however, and may become a key issue in the presidential election.