US stocks ended Monday trading flat as the weaker-than-expected economic data calmed investors' concerns about near-term rate hikes. Energy shares were dragged down by a dip in oil prices. Traders anticipate trading to become more active next week as earnings reports start to come out.
"I think right now, the market is going to probably going to just meander here for the next couple of sessions 'til we get into next week, and we're going to start pulling apart those earnings reports. Volumes are kind of, as you correctly pointed out, listless, across the entire U.S. equities space right now. There's a few things that are going on. Number one, seasonality factors are playing into this. The second to last week at the end of the quarter is generally one of the slowest weeks, and then the last week we tend to get action as people tend to mark their portfolios trying to get some performance out there before the end of the quarter. But what's occurred this year is that the way the calendar fell with the Easter holiday, with a lot of spring breaks occurring, particularly in the Northeastern schools, which would generate a lot of the action. That's why we're seeing some pretty slack days here," Keith Bliss, senior VP of Cuttone & Co, said.
The S&P has mostly recovered from a 10-percent loss at the start of 2016, with the S&P 500 edging up 0.05 percent to 2,037.05. Energy lost 0.34 percent as crude oil prices dipped below 40 dollars a barrel. The Dow rose mildly and the Nasdaq slightly dropped. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide rose almost 2 percent after China's Anbang Insurance Group raised its offer to almost 14 billion US dollar to challenge a merger deal agreed between Starwood and Marriott International.
