Shares of Apple, up about 130 percent since the start of the year, fell 2.7 percent to $71.58 and dragged on the Nasdaq. Intel Corp, another gainer this year and a Dow component, fell 1.5 percent to $25.07 in Nasdaq trading.
Crude prices rebounded back above $60 a barrel and drove down the shares of big Dow industrial companies like International Business Machines Corp, off 0.8 percent at $82.40, and United Technologies Corp, off 1 percent at $56.33.
US crude for February delivery rose 50 cents to settle at $60.32 after US inventory data showed an unexpected drop in gasoline supplies. Earlier, the February crude contract gained more than $1 to a session high at $60.85.
Volume was lighter than average, with about 1.03 billion shares changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange, well below last year's daily average of 1.46 billion.
"With volume so low and just one more trading day for the year, investors decided to consolidate some of the year's gains by selling some shares," said Michael Viracola, a managing director for trading at Adams Harkness in Boston. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 11.44 points, or 0.11 percent, to end at 10,784.82. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 3.75 points, or 0.30 percent, at 1,254.42. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index was down 10.78 points, or 0.48 percent, at 2,218.16. On the economic front, sales of existing US homes fell 1.7 percent in November to an annual rate of 6.97 million units as inventories climbed, a trade group said. In contrast, an index of Midwest business activity, released by the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago, was higher than expected.
Separate reports showed first-time claims for jobless pay rose last week, while the number of help-wanted ads in US newspapers increased modestly in November.
The stock of Home Depot Inc, the world's biggest home improvement retailer, declined 0.9 percent, or 35 cents, to $40.74 and was among the biggest drags on the Dow. Shares of luxury home builder Toll Brothers Inc slid 1.5 percent, or 55 cents, to $35.27.
Among gainers on the NYSE were shares of Hilton Hotels Corp, which jumped 7.6 percent, or $1.70, to $24 after it said it will buy the hotels of its British sister company, Hilton Group Plc, for $5.71 billion.
Merck & Co Inc gained 1.4 percent, or 44 cents, to $32.35 on the NYSE and helped support the Dow. Shares rose after Morgan Stanley raised its price target on the drug maker's stock to $38 from $34, citing new medicines and recent cost-cutting efforts.
On the NYSE, declining stocks barely outnumbered advancing stocks by 17 to 16. On Nasdaq, about 1.22 billion shares traded, sharply below last year's daily average of 1.81 billion. About eight stocks fell for every seven that rose on Nasdaq.