Nov. 15, 2010 (WALLSTmoney) --
After posting gains nearly all day, U.S. stocks tumbled at the session's close Monday, as investors remain jittery during a week with a full economic calendar.
The Dow Jones Industrials lost some of its initial gains throughout the afternoon, but still finished ahead 9.39 points to 11,202. The S&P 500 deducted 1.46 to 1,197.75. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index ended 4.39 points in the red at 2,513.82.
Early in the session, investors welcomed news from Caterpillar that it planned to acquire mining equipment company Bucyrus International. A strong retail sales report also gave stocks a boost at the get-go.
But stocks struggled to hold on to those gains toward the closing bell, as investors gear up for more economic data due out later this week. Tuesday brings reports on industrial production and the latest Producer Price Index, an important reading on the price of goods at the wholesale level.
Meanwhile, worries about a sovereign debt crisis in Europe are once again bubbling to the surface, after the Group of 20 meeting of world leaders last week revived jitters about the global economy. And Irish debt continues to be a sore point, even as the country's government insists that it will not need a bailout.
Stocks ended on a sour note last week, as concerns about the global economy took centre stage. All three major indexes closed with their worst weekly declines in three months.
Economically speaking, a government report released before the market's open revealed good news for retailers heading into the holiday shopping season. Retail sales increased 1.2% in October
But two other economic reports were less upbeat, and could be holding stocks back from climbing more.
Investors cautiously looked to a bigger-than-expected rise in inventories at U.S. businesses in September as a sign that demand is not keeping up with supply. Inventories increased 0.9% from the prior month, higher than the 0.6% increase economists had been expecting.
A separate report on manufacturing in the New York area indicated that activity declined in early November from the month before.
For the first time since mid-2009, the general business conditions index fell below zero -- declining 27 points to -11.1. New orders also registered a sharp decline, the New York Fed said.
After the bell, Nordstrom reported third-quarter earnings of 53 cents U.S. per share, slightly better than the 52 cents per share analysts were expecting. Nordstrom shares rose 1% in after-hours trading.
Earlier in the day, Caterpillar announced its plans to buy mining equipment giant Bucyrus International in a deal valued at $7.6 billion U.S. The price per share is valued at a 32% premium to Bucyrus' share price as of Friday. Shares of Caterpillar edged up 1%, while Bucyrus's stock rose 29%.
The deal lifted stocks of other mining equipment manufacturers, driving shares of Joy Global Inc. up 7.5%, while shares of Terex Corp. rose 2.9%
Shares of Ford Motor Co rose 4.3% as rival automaker General Motors Co. prepares to price its initial public offering on Nov. 17.
Data-storage company EMC Corp. announced it will purchase Isilon Systems Inc. for $2.25 billion U.S., increasing its competitiveness in the cloud computing sphere. Shares of EMC fell 1.2% and Isilon stock rose 28.5%.
Lowe's reported quarterly results early Monday morning. The home improvement retailer said it earned 29 cents per share, falling short of analysts' expectations by one cent per share. Sales rose to $11.6 billion U.S.
The company said its earnings were hamstrung by overall sluggishness in the economy, and that uncertainty in employment and housing continue to pressure the industry. Lowe's shares fell 1.1%.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury dropped, pushing the yield up to 2.91% from 2.76% late Friday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil was off $3.13 a barrel to $84.66 U.S. The price of an ounce of gold fell $9.76 cents to $1,359.95 U.S.
