The Dow industrials managed a slight gain to hit a 19-month high Monday on Caterpillar's strong profit, but a sell-off in financial shares hit the broader market. Financial shares have been hurt by the U.S. government's fraud charges against Goldman Sachs, the debate over financial reform in the U.S. Congress, and Greece's lingering debt issues. Goldman shares fell ahead of a Senate hearing Tuesday aimed at investigating the role investment banks played in the 2008 financial crisis. The U.S. dollar gained versus the euro and the yen. Light sweet crude oil for June delivery fell 92 cents to $84.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold for June delivery rose 30 cents to $1,153.70 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average was virtually unchanged, rising 0.75 to 11,205.03. Heavy-machinery maker Caterpillar reported higher quarterly profit and said the economic outlook is improving, and its shares gained 5 percent, offsetting losses from financial companies. The U.S. government said it will sell up to 1.5 billion shares in Citigroup, in its latest move toward withdrawing support for big banks it established during the financial crisis. The sale would be about one-fifth of the government's ownership stake and would reduce its holdings of Citigroup to about 22 percent of the company. Shares fell 5 percent. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 5.23, or 0.4 percent, to 1,212.05 after ending Friday's session at a 19-month high. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 7.20, or 0.3 percent, to 2,522.95 after ending the previous session at the highest point in nearly two years.
