25 and was one of the top drags on theDow

"There's gonna be a little bit of pressure on the marketbecause of its performance the last six or seven weeks," saidPeter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity Markets inJersey City, New Jersey. "People are more willing to ring theregister and take profits than sit on the sidelines." The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 81.80 points,or 0.91 percent, to 8,952.89. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index.SPX shed 4.35 points, or 0.47 percent, to 927.45. The NasdaqComposite Index .IXIC slid 4.18 points, or 0.26 percent, to1,628.03. The S&P index of telecom stocks .GSPL fell 3.9 percentafter Bernstein Research cut its ratings and price targets forAT&T and Verizon. Verizon fell 6.2 percent to $32.48, whileAT&T lost 3.4 percent to $28.43.

Financial stocks fell after Deutsche Bank said loan lossesfor U.S. commercial banks could rise 3 percent by the end of2010, hurt by a larger percentage of bad loans, greaterconsumer leverage and faster problem recognition by banks. Thatcompares to loan losses of 1.5 percent in the third quarter of2008. ID:nBNG386090 The KBW Banks Index .BKX fell 3.7 percent, while the S&Pindex of financial shares .GSPF shed 2.5 percent. JPMorganlost 6.7 percent to $29.25 and was one of the top drags on theDow.Homebuilder shares jumped after the U.S CommerceDepartment released a report on U.S. construction spending thatshowed building at the end of the 2008 was stronger than WallStreet had expected ID:nN05374612 The Dow Jones U.S. Homebuilders .DJUSHB index was up 6.7percent, led by Pulte Homes (PHM.N), which rose 8.7 percent to$12.14.

Stocks had turned briefly positive and the Dow cut lossesafter General Motors reported December sales that were betterthan expectations.ID:nN05407066 Dow component General Motors Corp GM.N rose 1.6 percentto $3.71 after it said December U.S sales fell 31 percent Fordetails, see ID:nWNAB6816. Ford (F.N) shares also rose afterit reported December sales, gaining 4.9 percent to $2.58. Energy stocks rose as oil prices jumped more than 5 percentin New York on supply fears on Israel's deepening incursioninto Gaza and the dispute between Russia and Ukraine overnatural gas. The S&P index of energy shares .GSPE was up 1.4percent, helped by an 8.5 percent gain in Consol Energy(CNX.N).

On the Nasdaq, Apple Inc (AAPL.O) jumped 4.2 percent to$95.58 after Chief Executive Steve Jobs reassured investorsabout his health. ID:nN05200877 Volume on the New York Stock Exchange totaled about 1.3million shares, and about 1.79 billion shares traded on theNasdaq. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the New York StockExchange by a ratio of about 2 to 1, while on the Nasdaqadvancers held a slight advantage. (Editing by Leslie Adler) Stocks Global Markets Bonds Russia. NEW YORK, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ TaskStream, the leader in web-based softwarefor the management of assessment, portfolios and institutional accountabilityfor higher education, secondary schools and vocational and corporate traininghas announced that Webster Thompson has been promoted to President effectiveFebruary 1, 2009.