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New York - Wall Street stocks Tuesday retreated from yesterday's records as investors looked ahead to Thursday's European Central Bank meeting and Friday's monthly US jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 21.29 (0.13 percent) to 16,722.34, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.73 (0.04 percent) to 1,924.24. Both indices closed at records Monday.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 3.12 (0.07 percent) to 4,234.08.
News highlights Tuesday included a stream of strong US auto sales that generally bested expectations and a report showing US factory orders rose 0.7 percent in April, slightly above the 0.5 percent forecast.
Michael James, managing director of equity trading, rated the day's events as "nothing great or disastrous."
"The market is clearly overbought on a short-term basis," he said. "But things are going to change one way or another" based on the market's interpretation of the ECB's monetary policy decision and Friday's non-farm payrolls numbers, he added.
Brazil-owned US chicken processor Pilgrim's Pride sharply raised its bid for Hillshire Brands to $7.7 billion, topping last week's counter-offer by Tyson Foods.
Hillshire said it would enter separate discussions with both.
Hillshire shares shot up 9.5 percent, while Pilgrim's Pride fell 2.2 percent and Tyson lost 3.0 percent.
General Motors rose 1.2 percent after May car sales jumped 13 percent, while Ford Motor gained 0.7 percent on a three-percent increase in sales.
Apple, which is hosting its annual developer conference in San Francisco, jumped 1.4 percent. A Morgan Stanley note said a keynote speech suggested potential revenue growth from iCloud and other applications.
Discount retailer Dollar General advanced 3.9 percent after reporting first-quarter same-store sales increased 1.5 percent. The company projected full-year earnings of $3.45-$3.55 per share, on track with analyst expectations for $3.51.
Bond prices fell. The 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.59 percent from 2.53 percent, while the 30-year increased to 3.43 percent from 3.38 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
