Markets End the Day Lower

Major US stock indexes are closing slightly lower, led by declines in health care companies and makers of consumer goods, the AP reports. Small-company stocks are at record highs Friday and still rising. Retailers Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch plunged after delivering weak quarterly reports, while discount retailer Ross Stores climbed. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 35 points, or 0.2%, to 18,867. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 5 points, or 0.2%, to 2,181. The Nasdaq composite slipped 12 points, or 0.2%, to 5,321. (More stock market stories.)