Stock market edges lower
A July rally on the stock market appears to be fading. Stocks edged lower on Monday as investors waited for a series of major economic reports due out this week. A string of bigname merger deals failed to push indexes higher.
NEW YORK — A blistering July rally on the stock market appears to be fading.
Stocks edged lower Monday as investors waited for a series of major economic reports due out this week. A string of bigname merger deals wasn’t enough to push indexes higher.
On Wednesday, the government will report its first estimate of U.S. economic growth for the second quarter; on Friday it will publish its monthly jobs survey.
Both reports will give investors a better idea about the strength of the economy and what’s next for the Federal Reserve’s stimulus program.
Investors will hear from the Fed on Wednesday after the central bank winds up a policy meeting.
The Fed’s stimulus has been a major factor supporting a four-year rally in stocks.
Corporate deals caught attention Monday but failed to ignite the broader market.
Saks jumped after Canadian retailer Hudson’s Bay, the parent company of Lord & Taylor, agreed to buy the store operator for $2.4 billion, or $16 a share.
Interpublic Group, a big advertising company, gained after Omnicom Group, another big ad firm, agreed to combine with France’s Publicis Groupe to create the world’s largest advertising company.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 36.86 points, or 0.2 percent, to 15,521.97. The Nasdaq composite dropped 14.02 points, or 0.4 percent, to 3,599.14.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index dropped 6.32 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,685.33.
The benchmark index is still up 4.9 percent in July, and the S&P 500 is on track to have its best month since January.