US open: Stocks lower in first session of holiday-shortened week

(Sharecast News) - Major indices were in the red early on Monday as the holiday-shortened trading week got underway to a not-so-merry start. As of 1530 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.57% at 42,596.35, while the S&P 500 lost 0.27% to 5,914.96 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.08% softer at 19,556.22.

The Dow opened 243.91 points lower on Monday, taking a bite out of gains recorded in the previous session as the blue-chip index snapped its longest losing streak in half a century.

Wall Street trading was expected to be somewhat muted this week, with the NYSE shutting up shop early on Tuesday and not opening again until Thursday.

On the macro front, the Chicago Federal Reserve's national activity index increased to -0.13 in November, up from a downwardly revised -0.50 reading in October. Production-related indicators improved to -0.08, up from -0.31 a month earlier, while the sales, orders and inventories categories contribution rose from -0.08 to -0.02.

Elsewhere, the Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell by 1.2 points to 140.2 in December, with the expectations index tumbling 12.6 points to 81.1 - just above the threshold of 80 that usually points to a coming recession.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Monday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $19.78 1.33% Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $40.15 0.53% Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $502.10 0.39% Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $98.27 0.22% Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $39.94 0.03% Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00% Nike Inc. (NKE) $76.83 -0.14% Boeing Co. (BA) $176.90 -0.25% Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $262.65 -0.28% Apple Inc. (AAPL) $253.70 -0.31%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Walmart Inc. (WMT) $89.53 -2.94% Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $9.37 -1.84% Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $338.24 -1.57% Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $110.59 -1.29% Home Depot Inc. (HD) $387.59 -1.28% 3M Co. (MMM) $127.80 -1.14% Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $361.85 -1.14% American Express Co. (AXP) $295.88 -0.93% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $61.97 -0.93% Visa Inc. (V) $314.77 -0.92%

S&P 500 - Risers

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $124.10 4.10% Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $229.38 3.89% Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $57.33 3.28% Qorvo, Inc. (QRVO) $72.29 2.03% QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $155.83 1.92% Ipg Photonics Corp. (IPGP) $75.25 1.91% Biogen Inc (BIIB) $148.84 1.61% Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) $778.24 1.37% Intel Corp. (INTC) $19.78 1.33% Celanese Corp. (CE) $68.97 1.05%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $0.88 -5.20% Resmed Inc. (RMD) $225.68 -4.89% Carnival Corp. (CCL) $25.59 -4.50% Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) $25.87 -3.86% Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) $182.02 -2.97% Walmart Inc. (WMT) $89.53 -2.94% Foot Locker Inc. (FL) $21.78 -2.81% CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $5.76 -2.62% FedEx Corp. (FDX) $268.84 -2.50% Centerpoint Energy Inc. (CNP) $31.74 -2.46%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $229.38 3.89% Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $57.33 3.28% Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $88.43 3.07% Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $0.32 2.89% QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $155.83 1.92% Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,748.90 1.66% Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $23.46 1.65% Biogen Inc (BIIB) $148.84 1.61% Intel Corp. (INTC) $19.78 1.33% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $136.12 1.05%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $265.66 -2.70% Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $9.37 -1.84% O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $1,200.48 -1.53% Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $208.11 -1.40% eBay Inc. (EBAY) $64.12 -1.37% Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $12.29 -1.36% Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $147.24 -1.28% Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $86.86 -1.26% Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $134.37 -1.21% Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $942.74 -1.19%