By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks dropped on Monday after
last week's record high for the Dow Jones Industrial Average as
data had China's industrial output slowing.
Icahn Enterprises LP (IEP) said it signed a confidentiality pact
with Dell Inc. (DELL), less than a week after investor Carl Icahn
joined those opposed to co-founder Michael Dell's plan to take the
personal-computer maker private.
Shares of Dell gained 0.8% in early trade.
The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) lost 6.6 points, or 0.2%, to
3,237.72.
The Dow industrials fell 3.3 points to 14,393.82 and the S&P
500 index slipped 1.4 points to 1,549.79.
The heads of the House and Senate budget committees this week
will introduce dueling budget resolutions. Tens of billions of
dollars in automatic spending cuts began to take hold after
lawmakers and the White House failed to reach a deal before March
1. Unless a short-term funding bill is passed by March 27, the
government could face a partial shutdown.
The budget battle didn't dent equities last week. The Dow (DJI)
set a string of record closing highs in recent sessions, while the
S&P 500 Index (SPX) ended Friday at 1,551.18, just 14 points
from its record. See: Stocks up for week; S&P 500 near
record.
Money continues to flow into exchange-traded products that track
the S&P 500, a sign retail investors may be regaining
confidence. See: Investors flock to S&P 500 ETFs as record
beckons.
With no U.S. economic data due on Monday, investors focused on
Chinese data. Chinese consumer inflation jumped to 3.2%
year-on-year in February, up from 2% in January for the largest
rise since April 2012. Part of the rise likely came from the Lunar
New Year holiday, which often produces a spike in prices for food
and other goods. Other data showed industrial product grew more
slowly in January and February.
Asian stocks traded mostly higher Monday, with Tokyo
outperforming the rest of the region while Shanghai and Hong Kong
saw modest pressure after the Chinese data. See: Asia stocks mostly
higher, Japan leads.
European stocks traded lower. Ratings firm Fitch late Friday cut
Italy's credit rating one notch to BBB-plus, citing uncertainty in
the wake of last month's inconclusive parliamentary elections. See:
Italian bond yields edge higher after downgrade.
After much stronger-than-expected labor-market data on Friday,
February retail-sales figures will take center stage this week. A
strong rise, excluding gasoline, would provide another piece of
evidence that the economy is gaining momentum, while a weak number
would indicate growth could remain uneven. See: Consumers hold key
to higher job growth.
On the corporate front, rival retailers and groups representing
publishers and writers have jointed to oppose Amazon.com Inc.'s
(AMZN) request to control certain Web domains, including .author,
.book and .read. See: Amazon aim to conttol some domains is
opposed: WSJ.
Clothing retailer Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) is expected to
report fourth-quarter earnings of 57 cents a share on sales of
$850.5 million, according to analysts polled by FactSet.
Casey's General Stores Inc. (CASY) is also slated to report.
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