By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks were little changed on
Monday, with Wall Street pausing after its record climb, as
investors considered Citigroup Inc.'s better-than-expected earnings
and mixed economic data.
"It's a big earnings week, but expectations are modest, so it'll
be interesting to see how companies perform with lowered
expectations," said Paul Mangus, head of equity research and
strategy at Wells Fargo Private Bank.
Trading in a 34-point range, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
(DJI) was lately up 3.09 points at 15,467.39.
Dow component Boeing Co. (BA) shares rose 2.5%, regaining a
portion of Friday's losses, after British investigators reportedly
found no evidence that batteries caused a fire on one of the
manufacturer's 787 planes.
Telecommunications led the losses and utilities paced sector
gains as the S&P 500 index (SPX) held flat at 1,680.42.
The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) rose 1.85 points to 3,601.90.
For every two shares falling, roughly three gained on the New
York Stock Exchange, where 157 million shares traded as of 11:20
a.m. Eastern.
Composite volume neared 802 million.
Treasury yields fell, with the yield on the 10-year note
(10_YEAR) used in determining mortgage rates and other consumer
loans at 2.559%.
The dollar (DXY) climbed against the currencies of major U.S.
trading partners, including the Japanese yen (USDJPY).
U.S. stock-index futures had added slightly to gains after
economic reports that had manufacturing in the New York region
expanding to a five-month high in July and U.S. retail sales up
0.4% in June, advancing less than forecast.
"The consumer was a bit weaker than expected in the second
quarter," noted Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG LLC,
in an email.
In light of the retail-sales report, "there is a very real
possibility second quarter GDP will be less than 1% for the second
time in the last three quarters," Greenhaus said.
The economy slowed somewhat in the second quarter relative to
year-ago growth, intensifying the importance of corporate guidance
as to what's to come in the next two quarters and 2013, Wells
Fargo's Mangus said.
Another economic report had U.S. business inventories rising
0.1% in May.
Both the Dow industrials and the S&P 500 climbed to record
closes on Friday following upbeat earnings from two major banks and
after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke voiced support for
continued monetary stimulus.
Bernanke is scheduled to testify about the U.S. economic and
policy outlook before the House Financial Services panel on
Wednesday, and before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.
"The interpretation of Mr. Bernanke's comments will be
important. It's a matter of when, not if," said Mangus of
expectations that the Fed will start cutting back on its $85
billion in monthly bond purchases later this year or early in
2013.
On Monday, Citigroup's (C) shares rose 1.1% after the banking
giant reported a steep jump in second-quarter profit.
Shares of Leap Wireless International Inc. (LEAP) soared after
AT&T Inc. (T) late Friday said it would purchase the provider
of prepaid-mobile services for $15 a share, or nearly $1.2
billion.
Chinese stocks rallied after the National Bureau of Statistics
said the economy expanded 7.5% in the second quarter, in line with
analyst expectations. The reading, however, marked a slowdown in
growth compared to the 7.7% expansion rate reported in the first
quarter.
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