NEW YORK: US stocks closed out April Monday with all three indices slipping lower, helped by weak US consumer spending data and ongoing worries about Spain and the eurozone.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 14.68 points, or 0.11 percent, at 13,213.63, while the S&P 500 index lost 5.45 (0.39 percent) to 1,397.91.
Drops by two of the Nasdaq's biggest companies, Apple and Google, dragged that index down 22.84 (0.74 percent) to 3,046.36.
Data on US consumer spending released before the opening bell underscored the continued struggle in getting the economy going. Spending growth slowed to 0.3 percent in March, even as personal income growth picked up to a faster 0.4 percent month-on-month.
Worries about whether Spain can surmount the problems in its banking system and avoid a new eurozone crisis also clouded trade, after pushing European markets lower -- the Euro Stoxx 50 blue-chip market fell 1.6 percent Monday.
"Once again, the Spanish ulcer is providing cause for concern; anti-austerity protests took place over the weekend and this morning we have had news confirming that Spain slipped back into recession in the first quarter," said IG Index trader Yusuf Heusen.
A weekend news report outlining how Apple minimized its US taxes with questionable tactics helped push the iPhone maker's stocks down 3.2 percent.
Google meanwhile lost 1.7 percent. A court weighing Oracle's $1 billion copyright lawsuit over Google's possible use of Oracle's Java code in its Android software sent the case to a jury.
Barnes & Noble shares jumped 51.7 percent after Microsoft agreed to invest $300 million in a new unit of the book dealer for digital educational books. In early trade the shares rocketed some 85 percent.
Microsoft shares rose 0.1 percent.
Online travel website Expedia gained 5.8 percent after it beat analyst forecasts in its quarterly earnings and boosted its operating margin.
Shares in gasoline station operator Sunoco jumped 20.5 percent after it sealed a deal to be bought by Energy Transfer Partners for $5.3 billion in cash and shares.
Merck was the top gainer among the Dow blue chips, adding 2.0 percent, after reporting that it had won a suit to protect its patents on its anti-cholesterol drugs Zetia and Vytorin from a potential generic producer of the drugs.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.91 percent from 1.93 percent Friday, while the 30-year dipped to 3.11 percent from 3.12 percent.
Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
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