The S&P 500 fell 0.13% and the Dow slid 0.15% A rally in biotech helped the Nasdaq remain positive for the day, closing with gains of 0.43%.
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USA stocks fluctuated as investors weighed growth prospects for the world’s biggest economy amid rising bets on continuing policy support from the Federal Reserve.
Traders saw the chance of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike by year-end at about 35 percent, according to CME Group’s Fedwatch, down from more than 50 percent last week. While the other major indexes have set all-time records recently, the Nasdaq hasn’t managed to do the same.
“The economic data until last week had been pretty decent but since the GDP numbers came out, we’re seeing holes in the argument that the second half of the year is going to be better”, said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities in NY. Its stock advanced 46 cents, or 6.7 percent, to $7.36.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude lost $1.63, or 3.9 percent, to $39.97 a barrel in NY while Brent crude, which is used to price global oils, gave up $1.53, or 3.5 percent, to $42 a barrel in London. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 2 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,172. Traders are digesting data showing a manufacturing slowdown in China, while awaiting manufacturing data in the USA, due later this morning. The Dow industrials closed down 27.73 points, or 0.2%, at 18,404.51, weighed by more than 3% drops in shares of Exxon Mobil Corp.
Biogen’s 5 per cent rise provided the biggest boost to the sector.
Exxon with Chevron hit as oil prices fall owing to increases in Opec production and additions to United States oil rig numbers.
Tesla agreed to buy SolarCity for $2.6 billion in stock.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,775 to 1,140.
The S&P 500 index showed 17 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 38 new highs and seven new lows.
Traders cut the chances of a rate hike in September to 20 per cent from 26 per cent a week earlier, and pushed back the first month with at least even odds for an increase to June 2017 from March after a report Friday showed the U.S. economy stumbled in the first half of 2016 as companies retrenched.
The yen retreated 0.3 percent to 102.37 per dollar after soaring 4 percent last week.
Bond prices fell and the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 1.52 percent from 1.45 percent, reversing a slide in bond yields on Friday.
The yield on Japan’s 10-year bonds climbed six basis points to minus 0.135 percent, after jumping eight basis points at the end of last week. SolarCity shares were off 7.3% while Tesla’s fell 1%.
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Gold declined from the highest level in more than two weeks as U.S.jobs data due later this week comes into focus for further clues on the possible timing of an interest-rate increase.
