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Monday, Jan 7, 2013 3:30 PM UTC

Stocks open lower, pushing S&P 500 down from high

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Topics: From the Wires,

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street Monday, pushing the Standard & Poor’s 500 index down from the five-year high it reached Friday.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 67 points to 13,368 as of 10:15 a.m. EST Monday. The S&P 500 dropped seven points to 1,459. The Nasdaq composite fell 15 points to 3,087.

Bank of America bucked the downward trend. The stock rose after the bank said it had reached an agreement to settle claims from the government agency Fannie Mae over mortgage investments that lost value after the housing crash. Bank of America will pay the agency $3.6 billion and buy back $6.75 billion in loans that the North Carolina-based bank and its Countrywide unit sold to agency from Jan. 1, 2000 through Dec. 31, 2008. The stock rose 8 cents to $12.19.

The S&P 500 closed at a five-year high Friday after a report showed that hiring held up in December during the tense fiscal negotiations in Washington, with employers adding 155,000 jobs in the month. Stocks surged at the start of last week after lawmakers passed a bill to avoid a combination of government spending cuts and tax increases that came to be known as the “fiscal cliff.” The law passed late Tuesday night averted that outcome, which could have pushed the economy back into recession.

Investors will get a better feel for outlook for corporate America this week as earnings reports start coming in. Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. will launch the reporting season for the fourth quarter of 2012 on Tuesday after the markets close.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose 1 basis point to 1.91 percent. The yield on the note climbed to an eight-month high of 1.97 percent in intra-day trading Friday, according to prices from Tradeweb, an operator of fixed income markets.

Other stocks making big moves:

— Lowe’s Cos. fell 68 cents to $34.90 after Canaccord cuts its rating on the company to “sell” from “hold,” saying that the home improvement company’s efforts to improve stores and sales won’t be successful.

— Walgreen Co. gained 65 cents to $37.83 after Jefferies analyst Scott A. Mushkin raised his rating on the drugstore chain to “buy” from “hold,” saying the company’s profits may get a boost from the flu season, Medicare drug plans and the health care overhaul.

More By Steve Rothwell.

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