NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The Dow slipped Tuesday for the fourth consecutive session as General Motors continued to sink and investors remained weary of rising interest rates and skeptical of a holiday rally.

But trading volume was about normal despite the first transit strike in 25 years in New York City.

The Dow Jones industrial average (down 30.98 to 10,805.55, Charts) closed down 0.3 percent.

S&P 500 index (down 0.30 to 1,259.62, Charts) and the Nasdaq composite (down 0.32 to 2,222.42, Charts) were little changed.

Shoe and apparel maker Nike (Research) reported earnings after the bell that beat analysts estimates by 10 cents, but shares about 3 percent fell anyway.

Shares of handheld computer maker Palm (Research) jumped 3 percent after the bell the when the company reported a surge in quarterly profit.

Investors will look for a final number third-quarter gross domestic product, due at 8:30 am ET, to move the markets Wednesday.

Stock futures were mixed Tuesday evening, pointing to a mixed opening for stocks Wednesday.

The close Tuesday capped a seesaw day for stocks, with the Dow higher and the Nasdaq lower earlier in the session.

"The market is worried that the Federal Reserve will continue to raise interest rates well into 2006 and possibly make a policy mistake," said Hugh Johnson, chairman of asset management company Johnson Illington Advisors. "If you look at housing starts they're very strong. Everyone knows the unemployment rate is low and the Fed is uncomfortable with that."

Stocks have fallen for four straight sessions, the market's longest losing streak since October, and recent weakness has some investors wondering whether the traditional year-end rally came and went in November.

"The year end rally began pretty early and the market has gotten over extended," said Harry Clark, chief executive of Clark Capitol Management. "The news has been good, it just has to digest these gains."

But Clark hadn't given up on the holiday spirit just yet, saying he expected a mini-rally by year's end.

In economic news, the Census Bureau reported that housing starts rose to an annual rate of 2.12 million in November, from a revised 2.02 million in October. It was the third best month on record for housing starts, and followed a sharp drop seen in the October reading.

Meanwhile, producer prices fell a larger-than-expected 0.7 percent last month, the biggest drop in 2-1/2 years, according to the Labor Department. The so-called core PPI, which strips out those volatile costs to provide a better gauge of underlying inflation pressures, edged up just 0.1 percent.

Investors are paying extra attention to inflation readings after the Federal Reserve said last week that future decisions on interest rate hikes would be based on data on prices and economic growth.

GM (down $1.20 to $19.85, Research) tumbled for a second-straight session after J.D. Power and Associates said the automaker lost retail market share to Japanese rivals in the first 11 days of December.

A forecast by Toyota that the Japanese group would overtake GM as the world's top car maker also helped drag shares down nearly 6 percent. Tuesday's loss came on top of a nearly 4 percent slide Monday.

Morgan Stanley (up $1.04 to $57.71, Research) said fourth-quarter earnings rose 49 percent, beating expectations. Shares of the investment bank rose nearly 2 percent. Merrill Lynch (up $0.52 to $68.78, Research), Goldman Sachs (up $0.73 to $125.86, Research) and Lehman Brothers (Research) were also higher.

SeraCare Life Sciences (down $9.26 to $10.04, Research) said it would start an internal review of its finances after outside auditors raised concerns about its accounting practices, sending shares tumbling nearly 48 percent.

Wal-Mart (down $0.36 to $48.60, Research) shares slipped after the retailer said it is the target of a criminal investigation involving the transportation of material deemed "hazardous waste" in allegedly improper vehicles.

On the mergers-and-acquisitions front, Tyco (up $0.29 to $28.75, Research) shares rose after a news report said that the company is near a deal to sell its plastics unit to private equity group Apollo Advisers for around $1 billion.

Light, sweet crude oil for January delivery rose 64 cents to close at $57.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Treasury prices fell, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 4.46 percent from 4.44 percent late Monday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The dollar made big gains against the euro and yen.

COMEX gold for February delivery fell $9.10 to close at $497 an ounce.

In global trade, major Asian markets closed mostly higher Tuesday, and European markets ended up.

Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers slightly beat winners on volume of 1.5 billion shares. On the Nasdaq decliners also edged out advancers as 1.7 billion shares changed hands.