About 5.4 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, below the daily average of 7.74 billion.
Kimberly-Clark (KMB.N) fell 2.7 percent to $64.24 after it cut the low end of its full-year outlook because the costs of pulp and other goods rose more than twice as much as it had expected.
The threat of rising commodity costs will remain in the spotlight for one of the busiest weeks of earnings, with 180 S&P 500 companies set to report this week, including other major consumer names like Procter & Gamble (PG.N) and Colgate-Palmolive (CL.N).
"That is going to be the next thing that happens -- the forward guidance is going to start to become impacted because of higher prices," said Ken Polcari, managing director of ICAP Equities in New York.
"This non-existent inflation that (the Federal Reserve) keeps talking about is elusive, because there clearly is much more inflation than they care to admit at the moment."
Kimberly-Clark, maker of Kleenex tissue and Huggies disposable diapers, is among companies highly vulnerable to rising commodity costs because its products contain oil-based materials and paper.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI dropped 26.11 points, or 0.21 percent, to end at 12,479.88. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX shed 2.13 points, or 0.16 percent, to 1,335.25. But the Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC gained 5.72 points, or 0.20 percent, to close at 2,825.88.
Johnson Controls Inc (JCI.N) fell 2.8 percent to $39.60 after the company, one of the world's largest auto suppliers, said its fiscal third-quarter results would be hit by a drop in car production following Japan's massive earthquake last month. [ID:nN25139917] Japan's earthquake has disrupted the supply of auto parts and forced auto companies to idle plants.
Through Monday, 75 percent of the 151 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results have beaten analysts' expectations. That is just above the average over the past four quarters but well above the average of 62 percent since 1994, according to Thomson Reuters data.
The Nasdaq edged higher, boosted by SanDisk Corp (SNDK.O), up 1.6 percent at $49.78 after raising its 2011 margin outlook late on Thursday.
But energy and materials companies' shares ranked among the worst performers, with the PHLX oil service sector index .OSX off 0.9 percent and the S&P Materials Index .GSPM down 0.7 percent. Oil prices slipped in thin, choppy trade as a sell-off in silver from near record highs lifted the dollar off its lows, prompting a bout of profit taking in crude.
The CBOE Volatility Index .VIX rose 7.4 percent after falling last week to its lowest level since 2007. (Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Jan Paschal) more ...
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