NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks closed lower in light volume Monday after Secretary of State John Kerry called Syria’s actions ‘inexcusable’ and a report said the U.S. would hit its debt limit in October.
Stocks had been modestly higher after a downbeat U.S. economic report did little to change the belief that the Federal Reserve would likely tighten monetary policy in September.
“The market is trying to build in ahead of time” the consensus view that the central bank would begin cutting back on its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases next month, and if not then, in December, Randy Frederick, managing director of active trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab, said of Wall Street’s pullback the past three weeks.
Stock indexes fell to session lows after Kerry told a nationally televised news conference that the United States would hold Syria’s government accountable for using chemical weapons. “By any standard it is inexcusable,” said Kerry of last week’s attack that the Syrian opposition said killed more than 1,300 people.
After rising as much as 39 points and falling 65, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI
JIA) finished at 14,946.46, down 64.05 points, or 0.4%. The S&P 500 index (SNC:SPX) shed 6.72 points, or 0.4%, to 1,656.78, with telecommunications the worst performing and health care faring best of its 10 major sectors. The Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ:COMP) was off a fraction at 3,657.57.
Decliners pulled ahead of advancers on the New York Stock Exchange, where 545 million shares traded. Composite volume surpassed 2.4 billion, or less than 80% of the past month’s average volume. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-mi...=afterbell
