Major indexes fall on disappointing factory orders news

Stocks fell yesterday as investors took a pause from a historic rally in September and held back ahead of a busy week of economic and earnings reports.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost nearly 80 points after factory orders fell slightly more than expected in August and contracts for new homes remained far below last year's pace.

This week brings a number of potentially important news events for stocks, including Friday's monthly jobs survey and earnings on Thursday from Dow industrials component Alcoa Inc., a report that marks the traditional kickoff to the quarterly earnings season.

The Dow fell 78.41, or 0.7 percent, to close at 10,751.27 The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 9.21, or 0.8 percent, to 1,137.03. The Nasdaq composite index fell 26.23, or 1.1 percent, to 2,344.52.- AP