Stocks down to start the week
Stocks were down slightly Monday, with traders taking a cautious tone to start the week, following last week’s performance when equities had their worst five days in seven months.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 89.44 points, or 0.35 percent, to 25,250.55. The S&P 500 lost 16.34 points, closing at 2,750.79. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 66.15 points, or 0.88 percent, to 7,430.74.
Shares have been battling a flurry of threats such as trade wars, rising Treasury yields, a slowdown in China and European political woes.
Third-quarter earnings season begins in earnest this week with 53 companies in the S&P 500, or 11 percent of the benchmark’s components, posting their July-September results. We’ll also get numbers from seven of the 30 Dow Jones Industrial Average companies.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 43870.35 | +461.88 | +1.06% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5948.71 | +31.60 | +0.53% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 18972.420086 | +6.28 | +0.03% |
Economic data released Monday included retail sales, which rose 0.1 percent in September, below the 0.6 percent analysts forecast.
Manufacturing in the New York region rose by 2.1 points to 21.1 in October, the New York Fed reported Monday. Economists expected the Empire State manufacturing index would come in at 20.
In corporate news, Sears Holdings made it official early Monday morning, announcing the retailer has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Banks have agreed to provide Sears with a loan, and Eddie Lampert’s hedge fund will provide $300 million in bankruptcy financing. Lampert will also step down as CEO but remain chairman.
Commodities were mostly higher.
Fox Business' Ken Martin contributed to this report