Dow Industrials Edge Higher
DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC. 5:18 PM ET 3/28/2016
The Dow Jones Industrial Average moved in its narrowest range this year and U.S. stock-trading volumes hit a new low for 2016 Monday.
Traders attributed the light trading activity in part to stock-market holidays in other parts of the world.
Many global markets, including the U.S. stock market, were closed for Good Friday, and many major exchanges in Europe, including those in London and Frankfurt, and some in Asia, including Hong Kong and Australia, remained closed Monday.
In the coming days, investors will receive readings on manufacturing production and consumer sentiment, and the highly anticipated March jobs report is set for Friday morning. The data will be closely monitored following a week of renewed talk about the timing of the next Federal Reserve interest rate increase.
"It seems like the market hasn't ignited yet, and we're still dragging from the three-day weekend," said Jonathan Corpina, senior managing partner at Meridian Equity Partners. He added the market could see a week's worth of trading between Wednesday and Friday because of the economic data and as investors rebalance their portfolios for the end of the month and quarter.
At the end of the month, institutions often sell stock to free up cash for distributions. Money managers also tend to sell and buy shares in large quantities at the end of the month to compensate for big moves in their sector allocations. For instance, if energy stocks rose sharply in a month, a fund manager may sell some energy shares in order to maintain a certain percentage allocation to the sector.
The week started off slow, however. On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 19.66 points, or 0.1%, to 17535.39. The S&P 500 rose 1.11 points, or 0.1%, to 2037.05, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 6.72 points, or 0.1%, to 4766.79.
The Dow industrials stayed within a 90.78-point trading range, its narrowest since Dec. 24, and 5.1 billion U.S. shares changed hands--the lowest-volume day since Dec. 30.
Monday's moves reflect how the U.S. stock market has quieted down recently following a bumpy start to the year. For the sixth straight day Monday, the S&P 500 moved within a 20-point range, the longest such streak since the six days ended Aug. 5.
After five weeks of strong gains, U.S. stocks declined last week, weighed down by a pullback in the price of oil and a strengthening dollar. Hints that the Fed could raise interest rates sooner than expected drove the gains in the dollar.
Last week, the blue-chip index lost 0.5% and the S&P 500 declined 0.7%. Still, stocks remain significantly higher for the month of March, a sharp reversal from a first month and a half of declines. The Dow industrials have climbed more than 6% month to date, putting their 2016 performance at a 0.6% gain.
"If you slept through the first quarter, you'd think nothing happened, but it was a nightmare of a quarter," said David Lyon, global investment strategist in San Francisco for J.P. Morgan Private Bank.
On Monday, data showed American household spending rose modestly in the first two months of 2016, and the personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed's preferred inflation measure, fell 0.1% from January and climbed 1% from February 2015. Core prices, which exclude the volatile categories of food and energy, rose 0.1% in February from the prior month and climbed 1.7% from a year earlier, below the Fed's 2% annual inflation goal.
U.S.-traded crude fell 0.2% to $39.39 a barrel. In the week ended Thursday, crude oil fell 4.1%, though it remains up more than 50% from six weeks ago.
In corporate news, shares of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide gained $1.62, or 2%, to $83.75 after the group led by China'sAnbang Insurance Group increased its bid for the hotel company.
Shares of Time Warner climbed 2.53, or 3.6%, to 72.54 following a big box-office debut by "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," which was released by Time Warner-owned studio Warner Bros.
In other markets Monday, gold for March delivery fell 0.1% to $1219.90 an ounce. Government bonds rose, pushing the yield on the 10-year Treasury note down to 1.870% from 1.902% on Thursday.
Among markets open in Asia, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.8%, while the Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.7%.
Write to Corrie Driebusch at corrie.driebusch@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
03-28-161718ET
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