U.S. stocks declined on Monday, with investors on shaky ground after a third week of losses pushed the Dow industrials into negative terrain for the year as investors fretted signs of a slowing global economy.
"I think this is a hangover from Friday, investors have had a weekend to think about things, and they didn't get anymore cheerful," said Kim Forrest, senior equity analyst at Fort Pitt Capital.
"There is a huge question mark about what does growth look like. The U.S. was the best house in a bad neighborhood, but we didn't realize the neighborhood might have been deteriorating faster than we realized. Europe is a big question mark, and China seems happy with its lower growth rate," Forrest said.
During the weekend, Federal Reserve officials said the central bank might move more slowly on raising interest rates if weak growth overseas threatens the U.S. recovery.
CSX rallied in early New York trading as the rail operator declined to comment on a Wall Street Journal report that it's been approached by Canadian Pacific Railway about a possible merger. J.C. Penney surged after naming Home Depot executive Marvin Ellison as president of the department-store chain, with plans for him to take the helm as chief executive officer in 2015.
The CBOE Volatility Index, a measure of investor uncertainty, rose 4.1 percent to 21.11, after rising as high as 22.46, its highest since Dec. 31, 2012.
"There is a theme of slowing global growth outside of the U.S. which is a moderate threat to the U.S. equity market. Weaker numbers from Germany confirmed a continuation of the European malaise and this reality, combined with a stronger dollar, could detract somewhat from U.S. corporate earnings in the months ahead," David Kelly, chief global strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds, noted in emailed commentary. Erasing a 50-point gain, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell as much as 80 points, and was lately off 53.81 points, or 0.3 percent, at 16,490.29, with Merck & Co. pacing blue-chip losses that extended to 21 of 30 components. The S&P 500 shed 11.90 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,894.17, with health care pacing sector declines and utilities faring the best among its 10 major industries.
The Nasdaq dropped 32.29 points, or 0.8 percent, to 4,243.95.
The earnings season picks up this week, with Intel, Johnson & Johnson, UnitedHealth Group, American Express and General Electric among the blue-chip companies expected to report results.
Financials Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup are also slated to post quarterly results.
Decliners edged just ahead of advancers on the New York Stock Exchange, where 107 million shares traded by 9:55 a.m. Eastern. Composite volume hit 425 million. The dollar declined against the currencies of major U.S. trading partners, while dollar-denominated currencies were mixed, with gold futures for December rising $7.20, or 0.6 percent, to $1,228.90 an ounce and the November crude-oil contract falling $1.52, or 1.8 percent, to $84.30 a barrel.
The U.S. bond market was closed due to the Columbus Day holiday.
On Friday, U.S. stocks fell sharply, with benchmark indexes falling for a third week in a row, as computer-chip manufacturers led the losses after Microchip Technology lowered its sales outlook.
Coming Up This Week:
Tuesday
Earnings: Citigroup, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo
Wednesday
Earnings: Bank of America, American Express, eBay, Netflix
8:30 a.m.: Retail sales for September
8:30 a.m.: Producer price index for September
8:30 a.m.: Empire State Index for October
10 a.m.: Business inventories for August
2 p.m.: Federal Reserve's Beige Book
Thursday
Earnings: Goldman Sachs Group, Google
8:30 a.m.: Weekly jobless claims for week ending Oct. 11
9:15 a.m.: Industrial production for September
10 a.m.: Home Builders Index for October
10 a.m.: Philly Fed
Friday
Earnings: General Electric, Morgan Stanley
8:30 a.m.: Housing starts for September
9:55 a.m.: Consumer sentiment for October
source: CNBC
"I think this is a hangover from Friday, investors have had a weekend to think about things, and they didn't get anymore cheerful," said Kim Forrest, senior equity analyst at Fort Pitt Capital.
"There is a huge question mark about what does growth look like. The U.S. was the best house in a bad neighborhood, but we didn't realize the neighborhood might have been deteriorating faster than we realized. Europe is a big question mark, and China seems happy with its lower growth rate," Forrest said.
During the weekend, Federal Reserve officials said the central bank might move more slowly on raising interest rates if weak growth overseas threatens the U.S. recovery.
CSX rallied in early New York trading as the rail operator declined to comment on a Wall Street Journal report that it's been approached by Canadian Pacific Railway about a possible merger. J.C. Penney surged after naming Home Depot executive Marvin Ellison as president of the department-store chain, with plans for him to take the helm as chief executive officer in 2015.
The CBOE Volatility Index, a measure of investor uncertainty, rose 4.1 percent to 21.11, after rising as high as 22.46, its highest since Dec. 31, 2012.
"There is a theme of slowing global growth outside of the U.S. which is a moderate threat to the U.S. equity market. Weaker numbers from Germany confirmed a continuation of the European malaise and this reality, combined with a stronger dollar, could detract somewhat from U.S. corporate earnings in the months ahead," David Kelly, chief global strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds, noted in emailed commentary. Erasing a 50-point gain, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell as much as 80 points, and was lately off 53.81 points, or 0.3 percent, at 16,490.29, with Merck & Co. pacing blue-chip losses that extended to 21 of 30 components. The S&P 500 shed 11.90 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,894.17, with health care pacing sector declines and utilities faring the best among its 10 major industries.
The Nasdaq dropped 32.29 points, or 0.8 percent, to 4,243.95.
The earnings season picks up this week, with Intel, Johnson & Johnson, UnitedHealth Group, American Express and General Electric among the blue-chip companies expected to report results.
Financials Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup are also slated to post quarterly results.
Decliners edged just ahead of advancers on the New York Stock Exchange, where 107 million shares traded by 9:55 a.m. Eastern. Composite volume hit 425 million. The dollar declined against the currencies of major U.S. trading partners, while dollar-denominated currencies were mixed, with gold futures for December rising $7.20, or 0.6 percent, to $1,228.90 an ounce and the November crude-oil contract falling $1.52, or 1.8 percent, to $84.30 a barrel.
The U.S. bond market was closed due to the Columbus Day holiday.
On Friday, U.S. stocks fell sharply, with benchmark indexes falling for a third week in a row, as computer-chip manufacturers led the losses after Microchip Technology lowered its sales outlook.
Coming Up This Week:
Tuesday
Earnings: Citigroup, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo
Wednesday
Earnings: Bank of America, American Express, eBay, Netflix
8:30 a.m.: Retail sales for September
8:30 a.m.: Producer price index for September
8:30 a.m.: Empire State Index for October
10 a.m.: Business inventories for August
2 p.m.: Federal Reserve's Beige Book
Thursday
Earnings: Goldman Sachs Group, Google
8:30 a.m.: Weekly jobless claims for week ending Oct. 11
9:15 a.m.: Industrial production for September
10 a.m.: Home Builders Index for October
10 a.m.: Philly Fed
Friday
Earnings: General Electric, Morgan Stanley
8:30 a.m.: Housing starts for September
9:55 a.m.: Consumer sentiment for October
source: CNBC