laced Nasdaq Composite Index fell 4.16 points, or 0.19 percent, to 2,137.25. Shares of other U.S. banks, including Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co., fell. Bank of America lost 0.9 percent, or 40 cents, to $43.34, and Wells Fargo declined 1 percent, or 62 cents, to $60.05. Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve raised the benchmark lending rate to 3.5 percent. Shares of the No. 2 home builder Pulte Homes Inc. slipped 0.8 percent, or 68 cents, to $83.48, and No. 3 Lennar Corp. fell 1.3 percent, or 79 cents, to $58.93, both on the New York Stock Exchange. Furniture maker and retailer La-Z-Boy Inc. slid after the company said higher energy prices were contributing to weak furniture demand. La-Z-Boy shares fell 3 percent, or 42 cents, to $13.57 on the NYSE. "Earlier this year, home-builder stocks were going up like Superman," said Al Goldman, a chief market strategist at A.G. Edwards in St. Louis. "Today's drop in the home sales report provided a good excuse for managers to finally sell those stocks and lock in some profits." --more 2356 Local Time 2056 GMT
