US stocks end lower on Monday

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 91.46 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 17,598.4, the S&P 500 lost 5.86 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 2,097.98 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 12.90 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 5,115.38.

The broad-based S&P 500 added 1.84 (0.09 percent) at 2,099.88, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 7.02 (0.14 percent) at 5,122.40.

MANUFACTURING: A survey Monday showed that U.S. factories were a little less busy last month.

Investors brushed off softer economic reports, however, with Baidu Inc ending 15% lower after its sales forecast failed to meet analysts’ expectations while Ingersoll Rand plc ended 6.6% after its earnings failed to meet estimates.

Though Monday’s data matters, Friday’s jobs report is seen by many investors as the next big catalyst for U.S. stocks, as it is viewed as be a strong determinant for the Fed’s timing on raising short-term interest rates. But in late-morning trading, declines in the price of crude oil accelerated, pulling major indexes down with it.

Glencore (LON:GLEN) dropped 1.44% to 205p, while BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) lost 1.69% to 1,162.5p. That hasn’t led to a pickup spending yet, suggesting that consumers are saving the extra cash rather than spending it. That has surprised investors.

A private survey of Chinese manufacturing activity showed a decline to a two-year low in July, suggesting the world’s second largest economy faces challenges in the third quarter. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged down 0.2 percent. Concerns about China’s economy hurt US industrial stocks as well as Apple, which relies on that country for much of its iPhone sales. Treasury prices rose slightly, pushing the 10-year yield down to 2.144 per cent from 2.207 per cent on Friday.

Elsewhere, European equity markets were in the red, with oil and gas stocks under pressure as investors sifted through another batch of corporate results, while Asian stocks closed on a mixed note with Japanese stocks rising on US economic optimism and a weaker yen.