The Closing Bell, 11/20: Most regional stocks fall third straight day

Shars in most regional stocks fell Friday along with the rest of the market. The exceptions were bank stocks, including Commerce Bancshares and UMB Financial Corp.

Commerce gained 26 cents to $40.68, while UMB closed at $39.48, up 7 cents.

YRC Worldwide also finished in positive territory, at $1.25, up 12 cents.

Garmin down 64 cents, and Waddell & Reed, down 48 cents, led the losers' list for the day.

Light trading was the theme throughout the day on Wall Street as investors grew uneasy about a rising dollar and spiking demand for the safest government debt.

After two strong weeks, investors tried unsuccessfully to extend the market’s rally after major stock indexes closed at 13-month highs on Tuesday. Disappointing reports on housing and worries about flagging demand at technology companies sapped strength from the market’s eight-month rally.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 14.28 points, or 0.14 percent, and closed at 10,318.16.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 3.52 points, or 0.32 percent, and closed at 1,091.38.

The Nasdaq composite index dropped 10.78 points, or 0.50 percent, and closed at 2,146.04.

An early reading of the KansasCity.com index of 145 regional companies showed a drop of 2.38 points, or 0.38 percent, at 621.81.

Among Kansas City area companies of interest:

I Cerner Corp. closed at $75.84, down 4 cents.

I Capitol Federal Financial closed at $29.57, down 4 cents.

I Commerce Bancshares Inc. closed at $40.68, up 26 cents.

I DST Systems Inc. closed at $41.97, down 42 cents.

I Garmin Ltd. closed at $30.86, down 64 cents.

I Great Plains Energy closed at $17.78, down 9 cents.

I H&R Block Inc. closed at $20.38, down 2 cents.

I Kansas City Southern closed at $28.37, unchanged.

I Sprint Nextel Corp. closed at $3.76, down 9 cents.

I UMB Financial Corp. closed at $39.48, up 7 cents.

I Waddell & Reed Financial Corp. closed at $29.26, down 48 cents.

I YRC Worldwide Inc. closed at $1.25, up 12 cents.

The Closing Bell is compiled from staff and wire reports by Steve Rosen. Call him at 816-234-4879 or send e-mail to srosen@kcstar.com. A recap of the day’s markets activity is available in the Business section of The Kansas City Star.