U.S. Stocks End April With a Whimper

U.S. stocks ended the month with a whimper but still managed to eke out marginal gains in April. The main indexes sold off on Thursday, led by losses in the technology and biotechnology sectors, which came under severe selling pressure amid higher-than-usual volumes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 195.01 points, or 1.1%, to 187,840, leaving it with a gain of 0.4% over the month and flat year-to-date. During session lows, the blue-chip index briefly turned negative for the year. The S&P 500 lost 21.34 points, or 1.1%, to 2,085.51, but recorded a 0.9% gain over the month. The Nasdaq Composite was hit even harder, losing 82.22 points, or 1.7%, to 4,941.42. The tech-heavy index gained 0.8% in April.