US: Global growth worries drag Dow, S&P 500 lower

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks finished mostly lower on Monday after global growth worries eroded gains made earlier in the session.

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note, a proxy for medium-term growth expectations, sank below 1.2 per cent in a sign of jitters over the economy's recovery.

The drop followed last week's US data that showed strong second-quarter growth, but at a level below analyst's expectations.

Data released Monday from the Institute for Supply Management also showed manufacturing industry growth below market expectations due to ongoing supply shortages and bottlenecks.

"Investors are turning cautious, fearing growth could be slowing," said Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.3 per cent at 34,838.16.

The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.2 per cent to 4,387.16, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 0.1 per cent to 14,681.07.

DataTrek Research pointed to Google search data that showed an uptick in searches about Covid-19 as the Delta variant has spread, as well as Apple Mobility data that showed people walking and driving less.

Those figures are "a worrisome combination," amounting to a "classic recipe for a growth scare," DataTrek said in a note.

This week's calendar includes the July jobs report, as well as earnings from General Motors and Marriott International, among others.

Among individual companies, fintech company Square jumped 10.2 per cent after announcing the US$29 billion acquisition of Australia's fast-growing buy-now, pay-later firm Afterpay.

AFP