NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks opened mostly lower Monday as markets digested the latest stimulus moves in China and looked ahead to major US labor data releases.
Shanghai’s stock market closed up more than eight percent after Chinese banks announced steps to lower interest rates on existing mortgages, the latest move to boost China’s economy after a series of actions last week.
Monday will be the final day of the third quarter, with the S&P 500 currently up about five percent for the period.
About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5 percent at 42,084.68.
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The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 0.1 percent to 4,733.45, while the tech-centered Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.2 percent at 18,163.47.
Markets are looking ahead to a speech later Monday by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at a meeting of the National Association for Business Economics.
This week’s calendar also includes an employment report on Friday.
“The market is looking for the next bullish catalyst to come out,” said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments. “It’s perfectly normal and healthy to see a little profit taking as we enter the end of month and end of quarter.”
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