Markets lower despite falling oil prices
Stocks closed lower for the second straight session Monday after the Dow Jones industrial average flirted briefly early in the day with its all-time high close.
After also making an attempt to reach its record trading high of 11,750.28 set in January 2000, the Dow slipped 8.72, or 0.07 percent, to 11,670.35. Broader indexes were also lower.
On Thursday, and again Monday, the Dow rose above its higest-ever closing level of 11,722.98 before retreating. But trading was volatile as some market players were out for the Yom Kippur holiday; traders said that may have weighed on stocks.
The markets mostly shrugged off the day’s economic data, which presented a mixed picture of the economy. And stocks were helped, at least initially, by falling oil prices. A barrel of light crude settled at $61.03, down $1.88, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil prices have fallen more than 20 percent since July, helping drive gains in stocks in the third quarter.
“There are a lot of crosscurrents between earnings, the overall condition of the economy and oil prices,” Jim Herrick, head of equity trading at Robert W. Baird & Co., said of the market’s pullback Monday.
Despite the Dow’s recent climb to near-record territory, Herrick believes the markets will stay tethered near current levels as investors wait for more economic data, such as the government’s employment report due Friday, as well as a read on earnings and profit forecasts.
The Institute for Supply Management said the manufacturing sector grew at the slowest pace in more than a year in September amid weaker U.S. auto sales and a cooling of the housing market.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said construction spending in August rose 0.3 percent after falling 1 percent in July. Also weighing in, the National Association of Retailers said pending home sales rose 4.3 percent in August.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 4.53, or 0.34 percent, to 1,331.59, and the Nasdaq composite index slid 20.83, or 0.92 percent, to 2,237.60.
Bonds rose, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.61 percent from 4.63 percent late Friday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by roughly 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.35 billion shares, compared with 1.47 billion traded at the same point Friday. Volume was light Monday as a result of the holiday.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was down 6.78, or 0.93 percent, at 718.81.
Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average closed up 0.79 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 closed down 0.05 percent, Germany’s DAX index was down 0.08 percent, and France’s CAC-40 was down 0.13 percent.