Stocks fall ahead of earnings season
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange last week. European stock markets had a weak start on Monday after a disappointing U.S. jobs report at the end of last week. (July 3, 2012) Credit: AP
Edgy investors sent stocks lower Monday on Wall Street ahead of corporate earnings reports and amid more signs of instability in Europe.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 36.18 points at 12,736.29. It was the Dow's third straight day of declines.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 0.16 percent to 1,352.46 and the Nasdaq composite index fell 0.19 percent to 2,931.77. Health care stocks rose the most, while stocks of materials companies fell the most.
Kim Caughey-Forrest, senior equity analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group, said many portfolio managers are afraid that this earnings season could bring bad surprises about stocks they've picked up earlier this year.
"It's report card time," Caughey-Forrest said.
Investors were also spooked Monday by news from Europe, where Spain's borrowing costs rose as finance ministers from the euro countries gathered in Brussels to complete a rescue package for Spain's banks.
The interest rate on Spain's 10-year government bond rose to 7 percent. Greece, Ireland and Portugal all asked for help from their international lenders when their own borrowing costs rose that high. -- AP
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