Stocks close mixed: Dow up slightly, S&P 500 dips
Stocks took a breather and closed mixed Monday after coming off their best weekly performance of the year.
Energy stocks took a hit as oil prices fell to the key $80 per barrel mark on rising supplies and weak demand. Investors were also nervously watching as a young boy who recently returned from Ebola-stricken West Africa was being tested at New York hospital for the virus.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 12.53 points, or 0.1%, to 16,817.94. The Nasdaq composite index added 2.22 points, or 0.1%, to 4485.93.
But the Standard &Poor's 500 index dipped, falling 2.95 points, or 0.15%, to 1961.63.
The stock market had its best performance in nearly two years last week as the S&P 500 jumped more than 4%. The strong gain helped the S&P 500 recover from a four-week slump. The benchmark index had lost almost 6% by mid-October, but is now down just a fraction — 0.6% for the month.
Mounting evidence of rising supplies and weak demand continued to weigh on the price of crude oil, which has dropped from a high of $107 a barrel in June. Goldman Sachs was the latest Wall Street bank to lower its forecast for prices in a report out Sunday, saying OPEC was unlikely to cut exports to try and push prices back up.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell 1 cent to close at $81.00 a barrel in New York after starting the day sharply lower.
Sinking oil prices also suggests weakening global growth, and signals that supply is outstripping demand. Oil prices are at their lowest levels since June 2012 and more than 20% below their 2014 highs.
In corporate news:
• Chiquita (CQB) shares rose 1.4% to $14.36 after the Charlotte-based banana icon agreed to a $681 million acquisition by two Brazilian companies.
• Drug maker Merck reported earnings fell but still beat Wall Street forecasts. MRK shares fell 2% to $56.45.
• Canadian drugmaker Valeant raised its offer for Allergan to $200 or more a share. VRX and AGN shares moved between gains and losses.
The big earnings report of the day comes after the closing bell when social media darling Twitter (TWTR) reports.
So far this earnings season more than seven out of 10 companies, or 71.4%, in the S&P 500-stock index have topped third-quarter earnings forecasts, better than the long-term average of 63%. So far, earnings growth is on track for a gain of 7.7%.
In economic news, the number of Americans signing contracts to buy homes ticked up only slightly in September, as it remained difficult to qualify for mortgage financing.
Overseas, European stocks fell as Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 0.8% to 6363.46 and Germany's DAX index fell 1% to 8902.61.
Contributing: The Associated Press.