"U.S. stocks kicked off the week with losses Monday, backing off strong gains logged in the previous week, as investors digested a small flurry of corporate dealmaking. Wall Street has been on a nice tear lately, as economic readings have started convincing investors that the recovery is gaining ground. U.S. stocks soared to their highest levels in four months Friday, and are still poised to end September with the biggest monthly gains in more than a year.
"The tone of economic news has gotten significantly stronger over the last four to six weeks," said Phil Orlando, chief equity strategist at Federated Investors. "This has provided investors with greater confidence that what we experienced over the summer months was simply an economic soft patch rather than the start of a double-dip recession."
With little on the economic calendar Monday, investors are soaking in the advances from the previous week and focusing on deals announced by Southwest Airlines, Wal-Mart and Unilever.
"We do have a very aggressive [merger and acquisition] cycle, and that's good for the market," he said. "But the market doesn't go up 2% every day, so right now we're just nursing a hangover." " [Source: cnnmoney.com]
The DJIA Index finished the trading session Down 48.22 pts; and The SPI Futures are currently: Up 18 pts atm.
Of Note in the US this evening:
S&P Case-Shiller HPI [Merits extra attention]
Consumer Confidence [Merits extra attention]
... AND ...
Of note in Australia today:
Please note there is no 'Economic news' due to be released in Australia today.
Gold is currently trading Down $2.40 & is sitting at US$1,292.20/oz atm (Live) [goldprice.org]; Oil is currently trading Down $0.28 & is at $76.24/barrel [Bloomberg]; and The Dollar: The AUD/USD is currently trading @ 0.9589 cents [Forex. Live]
