U.S. STOCK MARKETS

Stocks ended mostly lower Monday, with the Standard & Poor's 500-share index snapping a six-session streak of gains, its longest rally since December 2010. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 38.52 points, or 0.3%, to 13169.43. The S&P 500 slipped 1.76 points, or 0.1%, to 1404.11, ending its longest run-up since a six-day stretch ended Dec. 14, 2010.

The Nasdaq Composite Index added 1.66 points, or 0.1% to 3022.52. Alcoa fell 1.7% and Cisco Systems dropped 1.1%, the biggest falls among Dow components.

Energy and materials shares in the S&P 500, which had gained the most of the index's 10 sectors last week, suffered the steepest retreats.

A disappointing reading on Japanese economic growth added to concerns about the global economy. Growth there slowed to an annualized pace of 1.4%, down from a revised 5.5% in the first quarter and well below expectations of 2.7%.

Meanwhile, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch analysts lowered their forecast for China's economic expansion. In corporate news, shares of online travel information site TripAdvisor fell 4.5% after Google said it will buy the Frommer's travel-guide brand from John Wiley & Sons.

Tesoro led the S&P 500's gainers, climbing 9.5% after the oil refiner agreed to buy a California refinery from BP. Sears Holdings added 5.7% after Barron's reported potential asset sales or a restructuring led by Chairman Edward Lampert could boost the struggling department-store operator's share price.

Google gained 2.8% after saying it will reduce Motorola Mobility's workforce by about 20%, or 4,000 jobs, in an effort to cut costs and return the phone maker to profitability.

EUROPEAN STOCK MARKETS

Losses for heavyweight resource firms dragged European stock markets lower Monday, while Italian banks helped push that country's index higher after a well-received government debt auction.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 0.2% at 269.39. Investors are "hoping for some sort of resolution" to the region's debt crisis, said Ben Williams, analyst at Bedlam Asset Management.

Among notable decliners in Europe, Julius Baer Gruppe AG dropped 6.3% after the Swiss banking group said it would buy Merrill Lynch's wealth management business based outside the U.S. Petrofac Ltd. slumped 5.6% as the oil-services firm said net profit in the second half will be lower than the first half.

For the broader European markets, the weak sentiment was also inspired by losses in Asia, where Chinese stocks fell sharply on disappointment that officials in Beijing didn't use the weekend as an opportunity ease monetary policy.

Sentiment was also weighed by data showing a sharp slowdown in Japan's economic growth. Italy's Treasury sold a planned 8 billion euros ($9.87 billion) in government debt, although at slightly higher borrowing costs.

The FTSE MIB index rose 0.9% to 14,676.03, buoyed by the banking sector. UniCredit SpA added 2.3%, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA rose 1.9% and Banca Popolare di Milano Scarl gained 2%.

Banks were also on the rise in France: Credit Agricole SA gained 1.1%, BNP Paribas SA rose 1%, and Societe Generale SA added 1.4%. The CAC 40 index rose 0.1% to 3,440.13.

In the U.K., resource firms pulled the market lower. BP PLC fell 0.3% and Royal Dutch Shell PLC shed 0.4%. Among miners, Vedanta Resources PLC declined 1.9% and Kazakhmys PLC fell 1.6%.

The FTSE 100 index lost 0.3% to 5,830.99. German stocks were mostly higher, partly led by a 0.9% gain for insurance firm Allianz SE after it reiterated its 2012 operating profit will be "significantly above" the 2011 level.

Utility firm E.ON AG rose 0.5% as it reported a sharp rise in first-half profit and confirmed its outlook for higher full-year earnings. Car makers were lower though. BMW AG and Daimler AG fell 0.8%, while Volkswagen AG lost 0.7%. The DAX 30 index added 0.1% to 6,948.95.

ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS
Asian markets were mostly lower Monday after Japan's economy slowed more than expected and as evidence mounts of a worsening slowdown in China.

Preliminary data showed Japan's economy grew at an annualized 1.4% in the April to June quarter, lower than the 2.7% predicted in a Dow Jones survey of economists, as exports weakened due to the global slowdown and the ongoing European debt crisis.

The growth data out of Japan is the latest sign of struggling economies in Asia--China last week posted disappointing industrial and trade data. Although the recent data has raised hopes that China might launch some sort of easing to help the economy, most markets took a break following recent gains.

Japan's Nikkei was down less than 0.1% at 8885.15, while South Korea's Kospi posted its first decline in six sessions, falling 0.7% to 1932.44.

Technology companies shed some of their recent gains, with Samsung Electronics down 1.7% and SK Hynix slipping 1.3%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was 0.3% lower at 20,081.36 and the Shanghai Composite slid 1.5% to 2136.08, as local investors were more pessimistic than their peers overseas that Beijing would step in to help the economy.

Brokerages and property stocks led the declines in the mainland. In company news, watchmaker Citizen Holdings gained 4.2% in Tokyo after it raised its sales target for the year. In deal news, Dai-ichi Life Insurance gained 1.2% in Tokyo, after the insurer announced that it will purchase as much as 20% of Denver-based asset manager Janus Capital Group.

COMMODITIES

Base metals closed lower on the London Metal Exchange Monday, drifting in very low volumes as the market digested further evidence of a slowdown in the Chinese economy. At the close, LME three-month copper was 1.3% lower from Friday's close at $7,390 a metric ton.

Tight supplies of crude from Europe's North Sea Monday boosted the price of Brent futures, the continent's benchmark contract, while the U.S. oil benchmark fell.

Traders pushed Brent prices higher as a heavy schedule of maintenance will crimp the region's production next month. Brent oil futures for September settled up 65 cents, or 0.6%, at $113.60 per barrel, while the front-month U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate settled down 14 cents, or 0.2%, at $92.73 in choppy trading.

Gold futures tipped lower in muted trading as signs of weak physical demand for the metal outweighed hopes for more potentially supportive central bank easing. The most actively traded gold contract, for December delivery, settled down $10.20, or 0.6%, at $1,612.60 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Compiled from MORRISON SECURITIES PTY. LTD.