US stocks end with steep losses

For the day, the Dow ended lower by 129.71 points (0.93%) at 13,880.08. Nasdaq ended lower by 47.93 points (1.5%) at 3,131.7. S&P 500 ended lower by 17.46 points (1.15%) at 1,495.71.

Among the ten economic sectors, consumer staples, energy and financials were hardest hit and consumer discretionary and utilities were the best performers. Twenty nine out of thirty Dow components ended lower. Boeing was the sole gainer.

A lighter slate of U.S. economic data on Monday failed to move the markets in a significant fashion. In overnight news, European stocks were weaker along with the Euro currency, as Spanish and Italian bond yields crept higher. There is political scandal in Spain and banking troubles in Italy that are grabbing the European financial news headlines to start the new trading week. However, the Standard & Poors ratings agency said Monday that European Union periphery countries that are weaker have been making progress to climb back to economic health. However, S&P said Greece is still in big trouble.

Later this week China will issue a fresh batch of economic data, including inflation and trade balance reports.

The dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies rose by 0.5% on Monday.

In today's economic data at Wall Street, factory orders rose 1.8% in December, largely on the back of a jump in defense orders. Market was expecting a rise of 2.4%. Excluding defense, orders rose 0.3%. Nondurable orders fell for the second straight month, declining 0.3%.

Among major stocks under focus, Wal-Mart shares fell 1.2% after J.P. Morgan Chase downgraded the discount retailer to neutral from overweight. Chevron shed 1.1% after UBS AG downgraded the oil producer to neutral from buy. Merck declined 2.3% after Morgan Stanley cut the pharmaceutical firm to underweight from equal weight.

In the tech sector, Oracle slid 3% after the business-software maker said it would buy Acme Packet for $1.7 billion. Acme Packet shares jumped 24%. Dell slipped 2.6% after reports indicated the company's leveraged buyout will likely be near $13.50 per share, with Microsoft investing about $2 billion. Apple too shed close to 2.5%.

Crude-oil prices ended lower on Monday, 04 February 2013 at Nymex. Prices fell following a stronger dollar and latest developments in Europe. A better than expected factory orders report restricted the fall in prices. Crude for March fell $1.6 cents, or 1.6%, to settle at $96.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday.

Bullion metal prices ended mixed on Monday, 04 February 2013. While yellow metal prices rose, silver fell. Gold rose with the metal's attractiveness as a safe-haven asset in the wake of a steep drop in U.S. equities offsetting pressure from strength in the dollar. Gold for February delivery ended higher by $5.8 or 0.4%, to settle at $1,676.4 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday.

Gold oscillated between $1,678 and $1,661.5 during the day. March silver closed lower by 21 cents, or 0.8%, at $31.72 an ounce on Monday.

For every share that rose, nearly four fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where 693 million shares traded. Composite volume topped 3.3 billion.

Indian ADRs ended lower on Monday. In the Banking space, ICICI Bank was down 1.5% and HDFC Bank was down 1.5%. In the IT space, Infosys was down 1.7% and Wipro was down 1.7%. In the other space, Sterlite was down 3.7%, Tata Motors was down 1.8%. Dr Reddys was down 2%. .

For tomorrow, economic data will be the January ISM Services Index at 10:00 ET. Earning reports will also continue to flow in.

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