Service industry slump weighs on stocks
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange after the opening bell last week. The Dow dropped a little more than a 100 points early on the first day of the new trading year. (Jan. 2, 2014) Credit: Getty Images
The Standard & Poor's 500 index notched its worst start to a year in almost a decade Monday, closing lower for the third straight trading day.
Although the declines for stocks in the new year have been modest, the direction has been consistently down. The Standard & Poor's 500 index has fallen 1.2 percent from its most recent record close on Dec. 31.
The performance is a contrast to last year, when the S&P 500 surged almost 30 percent, its best annual gain since 1997. The banner year ended with the stock market climbing to record levels amid signs that the economy was strengthening.
In data released Monday, U.S. service companies grew at a steady but slightly slower pace in December. Sales dipped and new orders dropped to a four-year low, according to a report from the Institute for Supply Management.
The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 0.25 percent to 1,826.77. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 44.89 to 16,425.10. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.44 percent to 4,113.68.
The last time the S&P 500 dropped on the opening three trading days of the year, in 2005, the index climbed just 3 percent for the whole year.
-- AP
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