(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors - N.America) U.S. stocks moved between small gains and losses on Monday as investors became sidelined after a record-setting week for markets, with the focus on disappointing Chinese data.
Friday, stocks rose, with the Dow closing at a series of record highs, ending last week at another all-time high, up almost 68 points at 14,397.07 after February jobs growth came in far better than expected and the unemployment rate fell to a more than four-year low. The S&P 500 also closed just 14 points shy of a record.
Early Monday afternoon, the Dow was lately up 25 points to 14,421.91, the Nasdaq declined 1.02 points to 3,243.45, and the S&P 500 edged up 1.14 points to 1,552.31.
Over the weekend, data showed that consumer inflation in China rose to 3.2% in February year-on-year, up from 2% in January, primarily due to a spike in prices over the Lunar New Year. Other data also showed that Chinese retail sales and industrial production softened in the first two months of the year.
Investors were also concerned as the heads of the House and Senate budget committees introduce their budget resolutions this week and as automatic spending cuts start to take effect. Unless a short term funding bill is passed by March 27, the government could face a partial shutdown.
There were no major economic reports slated for the U.S. today, with traders looking ahead to February retail sales this week.
Earnings were also slow on the corporate front, though numbers came in from retailer Dick's Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS). The largest U.S. sporting-goods retailer forecast weak annual profit on costs to remodel stores and improve its Web operations as sales missed analyst expectations. Its shares were down over 9%.
Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) is also set to report results, and is expected to post earnings of 57 cents a share on sales of $850.5 million. This afternoon, Diamond Foods (NASDAQ:DMND) is due to hand in results.
Elsewhere, Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) fell 0.76% after two industry groups blasted the world's biggest online retailer's plan to control domain names. The Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers maintain that Amazon's plan to control several generic top-level domains, including .book, .author, and .read, would be anti-competitive, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Genworth Financial (NYSE:GNW) jumped 6% on speculation the company will benefit from the rebound of the housing market. The outlook of the provider of life insurance and mortgage guaranties is improving on restructuring and a new chief executive, who is said to push for growth in the mortgage business and spin-off units, according to a report in Barron's on Saturday. The Richmond, Virginia-based company will also begin to use gender-based pricing for some long-term care insurance policies. The stock has gained 39 percent this year.
Nokia (NYSE:NOK) drew focus Monday, with shares down almost 2% after Goldman Sachs cut its price target on the handset maker, and reiterated its sell rating.
In other corporate news, Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) rose over 1%, extending this year's gains after the No. 3 personal computer maker allowed activist investor Carl Icahn to review its books. Icahn, who has recently amassed a six percent stake in Dell, said in a statement on Monday that he signed a confidentiality agreement with Dell to examine information. Dell is facing escalating shareholder opposition to a proposed $24.4 billion leveraged buyout, as Icahn is pushing alternatives to the deal.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL ) retreated 0.9%, extending this year's losses. The iPhone maker had its shares downgraded to outperform from buy by Credit Agricole Securities equity analyst Avi Silver.
Commodities
Crude oil for April delivery shed 63 cents to $91.32 a barrel on the China data, while gold futures gained $1.70 to $1,578.60 an ounce on its safe haven appeal.
Europe
European markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The FTSE 100 gained 0.20%, while the CAC 40 led the DAX lower. They fell 0.14% and 0.06%, respectively.
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