The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 79.33 points, or 0.31 percent, to 25,916.54, the S&P 500 lost 6.37 points, or 0.22 percent, to 2,871.68, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 5.3 points or 0.07 percent at 7917.25. For the week, the S&P fell 1.03 percent, the Dow lost 0.19 percent, and the Nasdaq fell 2.55 percent in its biggest weekly decline since late March. (Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., September 7, 2018. - Reuters)
NEW YORK: The S&P 500 Index ended a choppy session slightly lower on Monday as worries about a slowdown in global economic growth lingered and as Apple Inc shares fell after the company unveiled its video streaming service.
Indexes moved between negative and positive territory throughout the session, with investors keeping their eyes on the U.S. Treasury market.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields fell to their lowest levels since December 2017, while the yield curve between three-month bills and 10-year notes inverted further as investors continued to assess last week's dovish pivot by the Federal Reserve.
The Fed flagged an expected slowdown in the economy last week and decided against raising interest rates this year.
The yield curve inversion, if it holds, is seen by some as an indicator that a recession is likely in one to two years. Ten-year notes were last yielding about 2.4 percent.
The S&P 500 financial index ended down 0.4 percent, falling for a fifth straight day, its longest losing streak this year.
"We went from people worried about a 4 percent (yield on the) 10-year and inflation, and now everyone is worried about a recession and rates going lower. So that's affecting the tone," said Eric Kuby, chief investment officer, North Star Investment Management Corp, Chicago.
The Dow ended higher, helped by a 2.3 percent gain in Boeing Co after the planemaker said it would brief pilots and regulators this week on software and training updates for its 737 MAX aircraft, with Ethiopian Airlines and Qatar Airways expressing confidence in the company despite a recent fatal crash.
Apple shares fell 1.2 percent and were the biggest drag on indexes. The iPhone maker unveiled its long-awaited Apple TV+ original content streaming service and Apple TV Channels subscription service, joining a crowded market for streaming options.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 14.51 points, or 0.06 percent, to 25,516.83, the S&P 500 lost 2.35 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,798.36 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.13 points, or 0.07 percent, to 7,637.54.
Investors largely shrugged off Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report that President Donald Trump's campaign did not collude with Russia.
The report left unresolved the issue of whether Trump obstructed justice by undermining the investigations that have dogged his presidency.
Top U.S. officials travel to Beijing for the latest round of high-level talks, which are scheduled to start on March 28.
In a bright spot, the consumer discretionary sector rose 0.6 percent, supported by gains in Home Depot Inc and Amazon.com Inc.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by a 1.03-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, a 1.10-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted nine new 52-week highs and six new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 25 new highs and 101 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 6.96 billion shares, compared with the 7.69 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
Europe suffered a fourth day of losses as persistent worries about the pace of global growth and Brexit uncertainty took their toll on shares in the region.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed 0.45 percent lower and is now nearly 3 percent lower than the six-month peak reached on March 19.
European stocks pulled back from an initial 0.8 percent fall after an unexpected rise in German business sentiment that eased fears of a recession in the European Union's largest economy.
London's FTSE 100 led losses with a 0.42 percent fall, while the more domestically-exposed midcap FTSE 250 lost more than 1 percent to hit a six-week low, dragged down by uncertainty over Britain's EU exit.
Germany, Paris and Madrid fell about 0.2 percent, while Milan lost 0.1 percent, although nearly all major indices were trading below 30-day average volumes.
European stocks last week recorded their steepest drop for the year as weak manufacturing data from Europe and the United States exacerbated fears of a global slowdown.
"Its a lingering fear of the state of the European economy," said David Madden, an analyst at CMC Markets.
Among the biggest fallers on the pan-region index was Bayer, which was down 2.9 percent after the German pharmaceuticals group and Johnson & Johnson agreed to settle thousands of U.S. lawsuits against their blood thinner Xarelto for $775 million.
Wood Group was the worst STOXX 600 performer, with a 7.6 percent drop, after Jefferies cut its rating on the oilfield and engineering services provider, citing dividend risks.
Meanwhile, British satellite operator Inmarsat's shares rose by 9.6 percent, the biggest gainer on the STOXX 600, after a private equity-led consortium agreed to it for about $3.4 billion in cash.
Media shares were the region's biggest losers, down 1.4 percent, with the tech sector 0.8 percent lower. - Reuters
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