Mixed economic data impact stocks
U.S. stocks closed lower on Monday, with the S&P 500 index
falling for a third consecutive session after weaker-than-expected
services-sector data. Equities began the day on a modestly higher note,
but the early gains evaporated during the opening hour as the broader
market followed the Nasdaq Composite into the red. The tech-heavy index
was hit with widespread selling pressure that weighed on many top
components.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 44.89 points, or 0.3%, to 16,425.10. The S&P 500 dropped 4.60 points, or 0.3%, to 1,826.77, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 18.23 points, or 0.4%, to 4,113.68.
The financial sector spent the entire session in the green. On the downside, the industrial sector finished near its lows as transports weighed.
Among stocks under focus, Bank of America posted its third consecutive gain. The stock jumped 1.5%. Boeing rose 0.6% to close at $138.41. Late Friday, Boeing's largest union voted to accept a new contract that will keep manufacturing for the planned 777X and its wings in Washington state.
Twitter shares dropped 3.9% after Morgan Stanley cut the social media company to underweight from equalweight, with a price target of $33. Shares in Apple recovered from earlier losses and closed 0.6% higher, after losing 2.2% on Friday in the wake of a rating downgrade.
For many traders and investors, this was their first day back at work after a long holiday break. Later this week the headline risk picks up, as the Federal Reserve's FOMC minutes are out Wednesday afternoon, while the European Central Bank holds its monthly meeting on Thursday and the U.S. employment report is out on Friday.
There is also important economic data coming out of China later this week, including trade and inflation reports. Last week, a disappointing purchasing managers index in China was reported, which has helped to sink the Chinese stock market the past few sessions. The spike in short-term Chinese interest rates in late December is still on traders' minds. China remains an increasingly important cog in the collective world economy.
U.S. economic data released Monday included manufacturers' shipments and orders, the ISM non-manufacturing report, and the global services purchasing managers index.
The ISM Non-manufacturing Index for December fell to 53.0 from 53.9 while the consensus expected the index to increase to 54.6. Business activities and production levels decelerated slightly as the respective index fell to 55.2 from November's 55.5. November factory orders rose 1.8% after falling an upwardly revised -0.5% (from -0.9%). The consensus expected orders to increase 1.7%. As the advance report already hinted at, nearly the entire gain in factory orders resulted from strong demand for durable goods orders. Durable goods orders rose 3.4%, which was down slightly from the 3.5% gain reported in the advance report. Excluding transportation, durable goods orders rose a solid 1.2%.
Bullion prices ended lower on Monday, 06 January 2014. Gold futures settled with a slight loss on Monday, their first in three trading sessions, after experiencing a sudden, large but brief drop in prices early on in the Comex trading session. Traders looked to the week's key economic data points for cues on gold's direction.
Gold for February delivery shed 60 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,238 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange after tallying a gain of 3% over the past two trading sessions.
Silver spent most of the session trading lower. March silver fell nearly 11 cents, or 0.5%, by the close to $20.10 an ounce.
Crude oil futures marked a fifth-straight losing session on Monday, 06 January 2014 as the prospects of rising Libyan oil supplies helped push prices to their lowest settlement in about five weeks.
February crude oil fell 53 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $93.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Once again, participation was on the light side as only 656 million shares changed hands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Treasuries rallied throughout the trading day, sending the 10-yr yield lower by four basis points to 2.96%.
Indian ADRs ended lower on Monday. In the IT space, Wipro declined 2.13% at $12.38 and Infosys shed 1.47% at $56.31. In the banking space, ICICI Bank was down 1.46% at $35.65 and HDFC Bank gained 2.07% at $34.48. In the other sectors, Tata Motors slipped 1.31% at $29.46 and Dr Reddys Laboratories tumbled 1.35% at $39.50.
Tomorrow's economic data will be limited to the November trade balance, which will be reported at 8:30 ET.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 44.89 points, or 0.3%, to 16,425.10. The S&P 500 dropped 4.60 points, or 0.3%, to 1,826.77, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 18.23 points, or 0.4%, to 4,113.68.
The financial sector spent the entire session in the green. On the downside, the industrial sector finished near its lows as transports weighed.
Among stocks under focus, Bank of America posted its third consecutive gain. The stock jumped 1.5%. Boeing rose 0.6% to close at $138.41. Late Friday, Boeing's largest union voted to accept a new contract that will keep manufacturing for the planned 777X and its wings in Washington state.
Twitter shares dropped 3.9% after Morgan Stanley cut the social media company to underweight from equalweight, with a price target of $33. Shares in Apple recovered from earlier losses and closed 0.6% higher, after losing 2.2% on Friday in the wake of a rating downgrade.
For many traders and investors, this was their first day back at work after a long holiday break. Later this week the headline risk picks up, as the Federal Reserve's FOMC minutes are out Wednesday afternoon, while the European Central Bank holds its monthly meeting on Thursday and the U.S. employment report is out on Friday.
There is also important economic data coming out of China later this week, including trade and inflation reports. Last week, a disappointing purchasing managers index in China was reported, which has helped to sink the Chinese stock market the past few sessions. The spike in short-term Chinese interest rates in late December is still on traders' minds. China remains an increasingly important cog in the collective world economy.
U.S. economic data released Monday included manufacturers' shipments and orders, the ISM non-manufacturing report, and the global services purchasing managers index.
The ISM Non-manufacturing Index for December fell to 53.0 from 53.9 while the consensus expected the index to increase to 54.6. Business activities and production levels decelerated slightly as the respective index fell to 55.2 from November's 55.5. November factory orders rose 1.8% after falling an upwardly revised -0.5% (from -0.9%). The consensus expected orders to increase 1.7%. As the advance report already hinted at, nearly the entire gain in factory orders resulted from strong demand for durable goods orders. Durable goods orders rose 3.4%, which was down slightly from the 3.5% gain reported in the advance report. Excluding transportation, durable goods orders rose a solid 1.2%.
Bullion prices ended lower on Monday, 06 January 2014. Gold futures settled with a slight loss on Monday, their first in three trading sessions, after experiencing a sudden, large but brief drop in prices early on in the Comex trading session. Traders looked to the week's key economic data points for cues on gold's direction.
Gold for February delivery shed 60 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,238 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange after tallying a gain of 3% over the past two trading sessions.
Silver spent most of the session trading lower. March silver fell nearly 11 cents, or 0.5%, by the close to $20.10 an ounce.
Crude oil futures marked a fifth-straight losing session on Monday, 06 January 2014 as the prospects of rising Libyan oil supplies helped push prices to their lowest settlement in about five weeks.
February crude oil fell 53 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $93.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Once again, participation was on the light side as only 656 million shares changed hands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Treasuries rallied throughout the trading day, sending the 10-yr yield lower by four basis points to 2.96%.
Indian ADRs ended lower on Monday. In the IT space, Wipro declined 2.13% at $12.38 and Infosys shed 1.47% at $56.31. In the banking space, ICICI Bank was down 1.46% at $35.65 and HDFC Bank gained 2.07% at $34.48. In the other sectors, Tata Motors slipped 1.31% at $29.46 and Dr Reddys Laboratories tumbled 1.35% at $39.50.
Tomorrow's economic data will be limited to the November trade balance, which will be reported at 8:30 ET.
