Worries about Europe deflate stock rally

A September rally on the stock market faltered Tuesday as worries returned about Europe's economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 index both closed with slight losses, breaking a four-day winning streak. Stocks are still up strongly this September, a historically weak month for the market.

Stocks had edged higher for much of the day following positive reports on U.S. retail sales and business inventories, but retreated in the final 10 minutes of trading as investors' enthusiasm waned.

Disappointing news from overseas hung over the market all day.

European markets struggled to end barely higher after reports that German investor confidence fell sharply in September and industrial production unexpectedly stagnated during July in countries that use the euro. Stocks in Tokyo also fell after the yen touched another 15-year high against the dollar, which is bad news for Japanese exporters.

In other signs that investors remain cautious, gold climbed to another record and Treasury prices rose, sending interest rates lower.

The Dow fell 17.64, or 0.17 percent, to close at 10,526.49 and the S&P 500 lost 0.80 point, or 0.07 percent, to end at 1,121.10.

The Nasdaq edged up 4.06, or 0.18 percent, at 2,289.77.

The losses Tuesday for the Dow and S&P 500 were only the second so far this month. The earlier loss on Sept. 7 was also triggered about renewed worries over Europe after news reports questioned the health of European banks.

September is usually a weak month for stocks, but this year has been an exception. Even after Tuesday's losses the Dow is still up 5.1 percent in September, but 6.1 percent below its 2010 high reached on April 26. For the year to date it's up 0.9 percent.- AP