Profit-taking, uncertainty hurt stocks

Wall Street withstood a spate of profit-taking Monday, with stocks suffering only modest losses as investors locked in gains from last week’s rally. The major indexes finished July mixed.

The markets now head into August with chronic uncertainties about the economy, interest rates, and oil prices. The latter rose sharply on word of new attacks in Israel and Lebanon, along with a United Nations ultimatum on Iran’s nuclear program. A barrel of light crude settled at $74.40, up $1.16, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Investors also face the possibility of another interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve after St. Louis Fed President William Poole said odds were 50-50 on a rate hike at the next Fed meeting Aug. 8.

With disappointing earnings forecasts from Tyson Foods Inc. and Valero LP adding to the market’s concerns, many investors collected profits from last week’s rally and seemed willing to wait for Friday’s job creation report from the Labor Department before making any new moves.

“Last week we had a pretty healthy rally, but it’s tough to say at this point whether there is a lot of upside here,” said Ken Tower, chief market strategist for Schwab’s CyberTrader. “The fact remains that the market is struggling, the economy is struggling and the outlooks for both are very unclear.”

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 34.02, or 0.3 percent, to 11,185.68 after climbing 3.23 percent last week.

Broader stock indicators also lost ground. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 1.89, or 0.15 percent, to 1,276.66, and the Nasdaq composite index dropped 2.67, or 0.13 percent, to 2,091.47.

For July, the Dow rose 0.32 percent and the S&P 500 gained 0.51 percent, but the Nasdaq composite index tumbled 3.71 percent due to major selloffs in technology and small-cap shares.

Bonds traded in a narrow range Monday, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury falling to 4.98 percent from 4.99 percent late Friday. The dollar fell against other major currencies, and gold prices also dropped.

There was little discernible reaction to the Chicago purchasing managers’ index, which rose to 57.9 in July from 56.5 in June. The increase showed modest strengthening in manufacturing, but Tuesday’s Institute for Supply Management index is considered a better economic gauge.

However, today will also bring personal income and spending data from the Commerce Department, which is a much stronger indicator of both economic strength and inflation. That, combined with Friday’s jobs report, could help investors augur the Fed’s move next week.

Advancers barely outpaced decliners on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.62 billion shares, compared with 1.69 billion traded at the same point Friday.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 0.53, or 0.08 percent, to 700.56. The small-cap index lost 3.31 percent in July.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 0.74 percent. In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 closed down 0.78 percent, France’s CAC-40 dropped 0.38 percent for the session and Germany’s DAX index lost 0.41 percent.