Investors made relatively small bets ahead of the coming earnings and as the quarter moved toward a close. According to preliminary calculations, the Dow rose 3.50, or 0.03 percent, to 11,350.01.
Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 1.62, or 0.13 percent, to 1,280.00, and the technology-laden Nasdaq composite index fell 22.65, or 1.21 percent, to 2,292.98.
The day’s modest moves stood in contrast to the heavy losses the market has suffered:
–For the quarter, the Dow fell 7.44 percent; the S&P lost 3.23 percent, while the Nasdaq had an anemic 0.61 percent gain.
–For the year, the Dow is down 14.44 percent; the S&P lost 12.83 percent; and the Nasdaq has fallen 13.55 percent.
Light, sweet crude, which began the year at $96 a barrel, fell 21 cents Monday to settle at $140.00 on the New York Mercantile Exchange while retail gasoline set a new national average of $4.086 a gallon, according to a survey of stations by AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which tends to move opposite its price, rose to 3.98 percent from 3.97 percent late Friday.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Monday’s economic news confirmed that the country is still struggling. The Chicago Purchasing Managers’ report on manufacturing, which tracks business conditions across Illinois, Michigan and Indiana, rose to 49.6 for June from 49.1 in May. However, a reading below 50 signals economic contraction.
Other important readings are due this week. The Labor Department is expected to release a June employment report Thursday that is expected to show the sixth straight month of jobs losses and only a modest improvement in the unemployment rate. The Institute for Supply Management is expected to release its June readings on the manufacturing and service sector, and the Commerce Department will report on construction spending in May.
Since last summer, banks and brokerages have written down more than $300 billion of mortgage-backed securities and other risky investments. And later this month even more losses are expected when companies like Citigroup Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. report second-quarter results.
Investors have turned away from the sector, waiting to see when the hemorrhaging might stop. The KBW Bank index, which tracks 24 financial institutions, is down 32 percent this year alone as most of its components trade near 52-week lows.
Declining issues outpaced advancers by about 8 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.61 billion shares.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 8.48, or 1.21 percent, to 689.66.
Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 0.46 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 1.74 percent, Germany’s DAX index fell 0.06 percent, and France’s CAC-40 rose 0.85 percent.
