STOCKS ended lower yesterday after being pulled down by profit-taking, a weakening dollar and falling bond prices.

The market continued a decline that began late Wednesday, and kept falling despite some reassuring government data.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 92.75 points to close at 6,927.38.

The Labour Department reported that new claims for jobless benefits edged up by 1,000 last week, a much smaller advance than the 11,000 increase that many analysts had expected.

Also yesterday, the Commerce Department said construction of new homes and apartments totalled 1.35 million at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, a 2 per cent increase from December, but well below the 1.40 million rate that many analysts had expected.