US Stocks Lower as Oil Tumbles and Wall Street Focuses on Earnings

New York (Oct 17)  US stocks fell Monday as investors digested a number of corporate earnings reports and oil prices decreased more than 1%.

The S&P 500 dipped 0.13%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.17%, and the Nasdaq declined 0.06%.

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey in New York in October fell to negative 6.8 from negative 2 in September. It's the weakest reading since May. Economists were expecting a reading of 2.0.

Industrial production in the U.S. in September rose 0.1%. Production had declined by a revised 0.5% in August.

"Today's report reinforces the soft, albeit improving trend, in manufacturing activity, in line with recent manufacturing survey data," wrote Andrew Schneider, an economist at BNP Paribas, in a note to clients.

European shares were lower and the pound lost ground against the dollar. Oil prices fell, but pared earlier losses, with West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 1.3% to $49.71 a barrel.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Stanley Fischer is scheduled to speak Monday at the Economic Club of New York, while investors continued parsing comments made Friday in Boston by Fed Chair Janet Yellen, who said a "high-pressure economy" has its benefits.

Yellen didn't discuss the timing of the central bank's next interest rate hike. Investors are now pricing in a roughly 64% chance of a rate increase in December.

Bank of America (BAC) posted third-quarter earnings of 41 cents a share, topping estimates of 34 cents. Revenue rose 3% year over year to $21.6 billion, eclipsing estimates of $20.8 billion. The stock gained 0.09%.

Source: TheStreet