Declines in health-care and consumer shares nudged down Wall Street on Monday as traders eyed more details on holiday shopping trends.
At 3:22 p.m. in New York, all three benchmark indexes were down 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) slipped to 17,739. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) fell to 2,083.29, while the Nasdaq Composite (INDEXSP:.INX) was down at 5,109.68.
Consumer shares fell on the heels on the Black Friday holiday shopping weekend. A National Retail Federation survey on Sunday showed more people shopped online than in stores during Thanksgiving weekend.
Investors are focusing on the upcoming U.S. November jobs report, due on Friday. The report may show that U.S. employers added 205,000 jobs in November, while the unemployment is expected to remain unchanged at 5%.
LUNCHTIME
US shares were seeing red at the open as traders were jittery ahead of the job creation number on Friday and ahead of retail data after Black Friday last week.
Data so far shows that consumers spent more online than in bricks-and-mortar stores.
The benchmark Dow was down 15 points at the time of writing to 17,780, while the broader S&P500 was down three points at 2,087.
The tech heavy Nasdaq eased one to stand at 5,125.
"The week started off with some modest losses, with European markets influenced by yet another difficult session in Asia, where China stocks are still in retreat," said Chris Beauchamp at IG Index.
Its a big week on the macro front globally with an OPEC meeting in view, the non-farm payrolls on Friday and the European Central Bank on Thursday possibly launching a stimulus programme to kick start the region's economy.
Computer software giant Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares added a half percent as it plans to expand its services for businesses. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares also went higher.
In small caps, Supreme Pharmaceuticals (OTCMKTS:SPRWF) (CSE:SL) eased around 8% even as the Canada-based development company focusing on medical marijuana reported a narrower loss in its fiscal first quarter.
IBC Advanced Alloys (TCMKTS:IAALF) slid 13% to US$0.0611 as the provider of beryllium-aluminum and specialty copper alloys reported a bigger loss and a lower revenue in its latest quarter.
Lingo Media (CVE:LM; OTC:LMDCF), the tech company focused on education, saw shares add almost 9% in Toronto as it posted its fourth consecutive quarterly profit as it posted Q3 numbers..
The firm also reported a 441% increase in revenue for the three months at C$1.2mln compared to C$222,000 in the same period of 2014.
Net income was a positive C$694,000 compared to a loss of C$179,000 a year ago.
PREVIEW
Wall Street shares are poised to open higher today after trading begins in earnest again after Thanksgiving and ahead of the key jobs report later in the week.
The non-farm payroll number could be the last release before a much flagged interest rate rise in the US and the mood concerning this possibility is likely to dominate trading this week.
It would be the first rate rise stateside for nearly a decade.
US stock movements on Friday's half day, where there were low volumes, were fairly uneventful with the Dow Jones closing 14 down at 17,798, the S&P 500 adding around one point to 2,090 and the Nasdaq adding 11 to 5,129.
Today, futures in the Dow indicate around a 35 point rise on the open, while the Nasdaq is tipped to go around nine higher. The broader based S&P500 futures are trading around flat.
Today, investors have an eye on manufacturing data out of Chicago and home sales figures, which are expected to decline and increase respectively.
In Europe, the Central Bank is also in focus this week as president Mario Draghi may unveil new QE measures to get the eurozone moving on Thursday this week.
The oil price is being contained by the fact OPEC is likely to keep the taps on adding to the current glut. Brent crude is down 1.03% to US$45.07 at the time of writing.