US close: Stocks turn in mixed performance amid fears for global economy
Wall Street stocks turned in a mixed performance on Monday as truncated trade talks and weak data out of Europe left market participants worried about the state of the global economy.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.06% at 26,949.99, while the S&P 500 closed 0.01% lower at 2,991.78 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.06% weaker at 8,112.46.
The Dow closed 14.92 points firmer even as sentiment took a hit ahead of the bell after trade talks between the US and China were cut short. Chinese officials described the discussions as "constructive" and said both sides would remain in contact.
Donald Trump said China would be increasing its purchases of US agricultural products as part of the bilateral trade deal but the early end to the talks was seen by some investors as an indication that the two nations were, in fact, no closer to finalising a trade deal.
Earlier, the eurozone manufacturing PMI for September came in at 45.6, down from 47.0 the month before and well below an expected reading of 47.3. European stocks fell broadly on the weak data.
Moving back stateside, the US manufacturing sector hit a five-month high in September and the services sector grew at its fastest pace in two months, according to IHS Markit.
However, IHS cautioned that the manufacturing data still remained among the weakest since 2016 and that "prospects also look gloomy", with inflows of new business down to the lowest level seen in a decade.
The 2-year Treasury yield recorded its biggest single-day drop in a month as investors turned to safe haven assets following the weak eurozone data. The 10-year Treasury note yield slipped 5 basis points to 1.704%, while the 2-year note rate fell 4.7 basis points to 1.664%.
Elsewhere on the data front, the Chicago Fed's national activity index for August moved into positive territory after sinking below zero in July.
The index came in at 0.10, up from -0.41 a month earlier as all four broad categories that make up the index grew month-on-month. However, three of the four categories did negatively contribute to the figure.
In corporate news, Amazon shares dipped 0.4% after Morgan Stanley lowered its target price on the online retailer, while American Express shares picked up 1.2% after authorising a buyback program of as much as 120m shares.