US markets

Buyout activity helped U.S. blue chip stocks eke out a slim gain Monday, though the economic worries that have driven six straight weeks of losses kept traders cautious and weighed on the technology sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished with a gain of 1.06 points, or 0.01%, at 11952.97, led by Pfizer, which gained 1.7%. The energy and materials sectors were weak, with Caterpillar the measure's worst performer, losing 1.4%. Chevron fell 0.7% and Exxon Mobil declined 0.6% as the price of oil slid near $97 a barrel on worries of high oil inventories and weak U.S. demand. The Nasdaq Composite ended 4.04 points, or 0.2%, lower at 2639.69.

[Sign up to get reports daily in your inbox]

Traders couldn't sustain a morning rally that sent the blue-chip Dow up nearly 60 points at one point in the session. Investors said the jitters over the health of the U.S. economy that have dominated market action for weeks continued Monday, even though a burst of deal-making helped set a more positive tone early in the session. Deal plans announced before the open included VF Corp.'s nearly $2 billion buyout of footwear company Timberland and private-equity firm Roark Capital Group's buyout of Arby's Restaurant Group. The blue-chip Dow is coming off its longest weekly losing streak since October 2002. The declines have been relatively shallow, with the Dow losing 4.4% from April 29 to Friday's sharply lower close. The S&P 500 has fallen 6.8% over the same period, amid worries of a U.S. economic slowdown. The Nasdaq Composite and the small-capitalization Russell 2000 turned negative for the year Friday and remained in the red for the year as of Monday's close.

European markets

European stocks eked out small gains in holiday-thinned trade, as worries about Greece's finances and the health of the U.S. economy continued to weigh on sentiment. The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed up 0.2% at 268.71, only its second gain in the past nine sessions, in a day in which many traders were away for the Whit Monday holiday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index rose 0.1% to 5773.46, France's CAC-40 index edged up 0.1% to 3807.61 and Germany's DAX added 0.2% to 7085.14. Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. PLC rose 4.7% following reports that Glencore International PLC was considering using some of the cash from its initial public offering to make a GBP12 billion offer for the company. Glencore added 2.8%, while Kazakhmys PLC, which is Eurasian Natural Resources Corp.'s largest shareholder, rose 2.2%. Both ENRC and Glencore declined to comment on the news. U.K. banks were in focus after the Financial Services Authority said it has agreed to extend the time in which Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland have to deal with their backlog of payment protection insurance complaints. Lloyds gained 1.4% and Barclays added 1.5% but RBS slipped 0.1%. Lloyds also benefitted from weekend reports the company is set to cut a further 15,000 jobs in a bid to save GBP1 billion. Even though stocks managed to end just above the flat line, traders cautioned that U.S., and indeed global, growth prospects remain a worry, as does the issue of sovereign debt.

Asian markets

Japanese stocks ended lower Monday, with a persistently strong yen dragging on some exporters, while Hong Kong staged a late session turnaround as banking shares rebounded. Tokyo's Nikkei Stock Average ended down 0.7% at 9448.21. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index, down more than 1% earlier in the day, ended 0.4% higher at 22508.08. South Korea's Kospi closed with a 0.1% gain at 2048.74, after moving in either direction during the session, and the Shanghai Composite finished the day at 2700.38, down 0.2% though earlier it had been down as much as 1.1%. Toyota Motor lost 2.4% after the car maker issued a weaker-than-expected profit outlook late Friday, with the news weighing on the overall auto sector. Fujitsu fell 2.3%, Nintendo was down 2.7% and Toshiba was 1.5% lower as the dollar remained below Y81. Also bruising sentiment in Tokyo Monday were monthly data showing an unexpected drop in core machinery orders, which are considered a leading indicator of corporate capital spending. In Hong Kong, measures Friday to limit the size of mortgages for some residential properties helped send Agile Property Holdings down 1.4% and Sino Land down 1.7%. Banking shares suffered early in the session after People's Bank of China data showed Chinese financial institutions issued CNY551.6 billion of new loans in May, easing from CNY739.6 billion in April. Money-supply growth was also less than expected. By the close, most major banks had chalked up solid gains in Hong Kong, with Bank of China swinging to a 1% rise and Bank of Communications up 0.8%.

Base metals

Base metals closed lower on the London Metal Exchange Monday, with market players signaling further losses ahead after another largely directionless trading session soured the technical picture. At the close, flagship three-month copper was 0.3% lower at $8,910 a metric ton, having slipped to a near-three-week low of $8,864.75/ton in earlier trade. The most dramatic losses of the session were seen in nickel, which closed 2.6% lower at $22,250/ton. U.S. benchmark crude oil futures prices fell 2% Monday to settle near $97 a barrel on concerns over high inventories and slim demand. European benchmark Brent crude held firm, however, amid tightening supplies of similar grades of oil, posting a record high premium of near $21.80 a barrel to the U.S. price. Traders said the markets for the two crudes are facing somewhat differing fundamentals, with supplies of crudes similar to Brent being crimped by the Libyan civil war and civil unrest in Nigeria. Meantime, U.S. inventories of crude oil and products are above five year averages when measured against demand, which is lagging year-earlier levels. Light, sweet crude oil futures for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled down $1.99 at $97.30 a barrel, the lowest level since May 17. ICE July Brent crude settled 32 cents higher at $119.10 a barrel. Silver futures ended lower, pressuring the broader precious-metals complex, as worries about an economic slowdown in China and the absence of several major European markets weighed on investor sentiment. Silver for July delivery, the most actively traded contract, settled down $1.590, or 4.4%, at $34.737 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold for August delivery, the most actively traded contract, settled down $13.60, or 0.9%, at $1,515.60 a troy ounce.

More from IBT Markets:
Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox daily
Follow us on Facebook.
Follow us on Twitter.