Stocks close lower as focus shifts to earnings
Stocks fell Monday as investors look ahead to a busy week of earnings and economic data.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 81 points, or 0.5%, to 17,977 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 10 points, or 0.5%, to 2092.
The Nasdaq composite dropped 8 points, or 0.2%, to 4988 after rising above 5000 earlier.
The stock market is coming off its second straight week of gains, and its next move will be determined by how the data come in and what corporate CEOs say about the earnings outlook for the rest of 2015.
A wintry mess, sinking oil prices and a rising dollar have weighed on the economy and earnings in the first three months of 2015. Analysts are expecting the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index to post its first contraction in quarterly earnings in almost six years when first-quarter profit reports are all tallied up.
Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase are among a long slate of companies dishing out earnings this week. Their Tuesday releases kick of a parade of reports from financial giants.
Economic reports coming include Tuesday's report on retail sales and Friday's looks at consumer prices and consumer sentiment.
Asian stock markets finished either flat or much higher Monday as investors looked ahead to Chinese economic and trade data for signs of whether Beijing will launch new stimulus.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index ended at 0.01% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rocketed up 2.7%. The Shanghai Composite lurched 2.2% higher.
Europe shares ended mixed. Germany's DAX lost 0.3% and France's CAC 40 climbed.0.3%. Britain's FTSE gained 0.7%.
Data showed trade in China shrank more than expected in March, with imports down 12.7% from a year earlier and exports falling 15%.
It fueled concern that economic data due out Wednesday will show overall growth fell further in the first three months of 2015 after declining to 7.3% in the final quarter of last year.
On Friday, stocks rose for a third straight day as the Dow rallied nearly 100 points and jumped back above the 18,000 level to close out with a weekly gain.
Contributing: Jane Onyanga-Omara, Adam Shell, Associated Press.