NEW YORK (AP) - The stock market held close to record levels on Monday as a report showed that manufacturing remains on sound footing in the U.S. even as other parts of the global economy struggle. Falling oil prices weighed on energy stocks.
The U.S. manufacturing sector rebounded last month, matching a three-year high, according to The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers. The report was preceded by downbeat manufacturing readings from China and Europe, feeding concern that growth in these regions could slide.
The sluggishness overseas "put a little damper on the U.S. data," said Brad Sorensen, Director of Market and Sector Analysis at the Schwab Center for Financial Research. "Really where the concern lies, at this point, is overseas."
Stocks are trading near record levels after strong company earnings helped the stock market recover from an early October slump. The market closed at an all-time high on Friday after the Bank of Japan surprised investors by announcing it would increase its bond and asset purchases in an effort to stave off deflation.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 0.24 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 2,017.81. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 24.28 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,366.24. The Nasdaq composite gained 8.17 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,638.91.
Falling energy stocks also weighed on the stock market on Monday, as the price of U.S. benchmark oil fell to its lowest level in more than two years. Oil slumped following reports that Saudi Arabia is cutting the price it sells oil to the U.S. as it tries to maintain its market share, Bloomberg reported.
Benchmark U.S. oil dropped $1.76 to close at $78.78 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, slipped $1.08 to $84.78.