Gloomy economic signs push stocks lower

Stocks pared losses in the final hour of trading but couldn't completely overcome a spate of bad economic news, including a lower-than-expected reading on orders for durable goods and commodities prices fell. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 26 points, or 0.3 percent, to 9,071.

Given the disappointing signals on the economy, the Dow's biggest losers probably weren't too surprising: Alcoa (AA), Caterpillar (CAT) and General Electric (GE) led blue-chip stocks lower. Sixteen of the 30 DJIA stocks posted losses on the day.

For more stocks making moves, be sure to check out BloggingStocks' market wrap up.