Stocks give up modest gain; Dow turns lower NEW Y

Stocks give up modest gain; Dow turns lower
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks gave up moderate early gains Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipping back into negative territory as investors await major economic data this week and weigh whether to continue pressing the upside in the face of uncertainty over when the Federal Reserve may begin to choke the flow of monetary stimulus.

Stocks had initially gained ground after a report on factory orders that roughly matched expectations, with bulls also finding solace in remarks by St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard.

The S&P 500 (SNC:SPX) was last up 1 point, or 0.1%, to 1,763, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI JIA) dropped 11 points, or 0.1%, to 15,605.

The Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ:COMP) held on to a gain of 4 points, or 0.1%, to 3,925.

“The market’s Kryptonite is early taper talk at the moment, and this first full week of November has the potential for it to be hurled at it from all directions with no shortage of U.S. economic data on the agenda, including the all-important October payrolls report and the advance estimate of [third-quarter] GDP,” said Jim Reid, strategist at Deutsche Bank, in a note. Reid said there had been some signs of risk being taken off the table already, noting pullbacks in emerging-markets equities, fixed income and currencies.

Bullard told CNBC that the Federal Reserve did not have to be in a “hurry” to pare its $85 billion-a-month in bond purchases, because inflation is low. On the other hand, Bullard also made several comments that suggest a taper could come soon.

U.S. factory orders for September rose 1.7%. That met the consensus forecast from a MarketWatch poll of economists. Other surveys called for a 1.8% gain. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-up...2013-11-04