Wall Street pulling back

   NEW YORK  _ Wall Street pulled back Monday as investors
digested Microsoft Corp.'s decision to withdraw its bid for Yahoo
Inc. and a better-than-expected reading on the service sector.
    Microsoft had offered $43.7 billion to buy Yahoo Inc., but
scrapped the bid late Saturday after the software maker and the
Internet provider could not agree on a sale price.
    The failed deal came as a disappointment to Wall Street, as
merger-and-acquisition activity tends to boost shareholder value,
and also signals to the broader market that corporate America is
optimistic about the future.
    But investors did appear to take some encouragement from a key
reading on the U.S. service sector. The Institute for Supply
Management said its April index of nonmanufacturing activity rose
to 52 from 49.6 in March. A reading above 50 signals economic
expansion; analysts had expected the figure would come in at 49.3,
according to economists surveyed by Thomson Financial/IFR.
    In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell
64.97, or 0.50 percent, to 12,993.23.
    Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500
index fell 3.73, or 0.26 percent, to 1,410.17, and the Nasdaq
composite index fell 4.52, or 0.18 percent, to 2,472.47.
    Helping to offset some of investors' disappointment over the
abandoned Yahoo deal was a report from The Wall Street Journal,
which said Deutsche Telekom AG is considering a bid to buy Sprint
Nextel Corp., according to people familiar with the discussions.
    Bond prices slipped. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury
note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.87 percent from
3.86 percent late Friday.
    Overall, first-quarter earnings reports and economic data have
been coming in weak, but not as poor as many on Wall Street had
braced for. Optimism for an economic rebound later in the year has
lifted the Dow back above the 13,000 mark.
    Investors have lingering concerns, however _ not only is the
housing market still extremely weak, but commodities prices remain
near record levels, threatening consumers' discretionary spending
and their ability to pay off debt.
    Crude oil futures for June delivery rose $2.84 to $119.16 a
barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, boosted by news of an
attack on a Nigerian oil facility. Crude oil had spiked more than
$3 a barrel on Friday, and some analysts are concerned the
commodity will surge back above its record near the $120-a-barrel
level.
    Gold prices also climbed Monday, while the dollar traded mixed
against other major currencies.
    Overseas, Japan's and Great Britain's markets were closed. In
afternoon trading, Germany's DAX index rose 0.13 percent, and
France's CAC-40 rose 0.08 percent.