Stocks end mixed as oil drops 5%

Stocks steadily climbed from session lows for most of Monday but ended basically flat on the first day of February as Wall Street digested its worst January performance since 2009.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished down 17 points, a 0.1% dip, while the Nasdaq composite went the other direction, climbing 0.1%. In between was the S&P 500, which lost a scant 0.04%.

Driving stock prices down to start the new month were some of the same headwinds that have haunted stocks all year: falling oil prices and a fresh report which shows slowing growth in China persists. In the case of China, the January purchasing managers index came in at 49.4, which signals contraction in China's factory segment for the sixth straight month. In the oil patch, U.S.-produced crude was down 5.3% to $31.86 a barrel.

Missing link for Dow: follow-through rally after big gain

On Friday, the last day of dismal January, the Dow Jones industrial average rallied nearly 400 points and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 stock index gained 2.5%, raising hopes that Wall Street's rough patch might be easing up.

In January, the Dow fell 5.5%, the S&P 500 fell 5.1% and the Nasdaq tumbled 7.9%. Both the Dow and Nasdaq remain in so-called "correction" territory, defined as being more than 10% off their highs.

Wall Street will be watching a number of key developments today. The presidential race will make news tonight with the Iowa caucuses allowing voters from Iowa to weigh in on which presidential candidate looks most viable for the coming election in November.

Some key economic data is also on tap today, with the December reading on Americans personal income and spending, as well as a key January manufacturing report and a data point on construction spending for the final month of 2015.

Consumers boost savings rate to highest level in 3 years

And the quarterly earnings report from Google parent Alphabet will also attract a lot of attention after today's closing bell.

Stocks around the globe were mostly lower to kick off February, with the exception being Japan's Nikkei 225, which tallied nearly 2%, continuing Friday's rally following a surprise interest rate cut from the Bank of Japan.

But shares in mainland China's Shanghai composite fell 1.8% on the weak factory report.

In Europe, the broad Stoxx Europe 600 was off 0.4%, while the German DAX was down 0.8% and the CAC 40 in Paris was 0.9% lower.