U.S. market indexes were lower Monday to start the week as investors considered the future outlook with few market catalysts affecting trading for the day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 8.01 points or 0.05% to close at 17,492.93. The Standard & Poor's 500 was also down, closing at 2,048.04 for a loss of 4.28 points or 0.21%. The Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 4,765.78 for a loss of 3.78 points or 0.08%.
Other notable index closes for the day included the small-cap Russell 2000 closing at 1,111.37 for a loss of 0.91 points or 0.08%; the S&P 600 closing at 679.49 for a loss of 1.40 points or 0.21%; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closing at 1,446.44 for a loss of 3.67 points or 0.25%; the Russell 3000 closing at 1,205.67 for a loss of 2.41 points or 0.20% and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index, which closed at 578.04 for a loss of 1.85 points or 0.32%.
The leading economic report for the day was Markit’s PMI Manufacturing Index which reported an index level of 50.5, just below consensus of 51. At 50.5 the Index level remained flat in comparison to the previous month as manufacturing levels appear to be slowing total production in the U.S.
In the day’s trading, Bayer (BAYN, Financial) was one of the most actively traded stocks after announcing a $62 billion bid for Monsanto (MON, Financial). Bayer traded lower in Europe, down 4.32 points or 4.82% to 85.32 EUR. Monsanto traded higher in the U.S. at $105.99 for a gain of 4.47 points or 4.40%. As a result of the activity, the materials sector in the U.S. was higher for the day with a gain of 1.17%.
Viacom (VIAB, Financial) was also actively traded on Monday after a reported lawsuit that would affect the trust rights of Shari Redstone, Sumner Redstone’s daughter who is also on the Viacom board of directors. In a CNBC interview, Barton Crockett of FBR Capital Markets discussed the situation and how it could affect trading for Viacom.
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