U.S.-Syria Rhetoric Sparks Late Sell Off In Stocks

Stocks were mostly lower at the close Monday, giving up early gains on concerns about Syria as worries over potential military intervention in the Middle East overshadowed expectations for bullish housing data on Tuesday. While the Nasdaq continued to be underpinned by some strength in the tech sector, the Dow Industrials and S&P 500 both closed firmly to the downside.

Anger From D.C.
The market gained early Monday as bearish durable goods orders eased concerns about an imminent Fed tapering, but took a turn for the worse following Secretary of State John Kerry's remarks about the use of chemical weapons in Syria and a possible response by the U.S. The move was exaggerated, however, by the lightest trading day in terms of volume so far this year.

Durable goods orders fell by a much greater than expected 7.3% in July versus the consensus for a 4.0% drop. Excluding transportation orders, orders were down 0.6% against the estimates for a 0.3% increase.

Here's Where The Markets Stood At The Close

• Dow Jones Industrial Index was down 64.05 (-0.43%) to 14,946.46
• S&P 500 was down 6.72 (-0.40%) to 1,656.78
• Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.22 (-0.01%) to 3,657.57

• FTSE 100 Closed
• Nikkei 225 was down 0.18%
• Hang Seng Index was up 0.65%
• Shanghai China Composite Index was up 1.90%

• AMGN - Amgen agreed to buy ONXX (+5.58%) for $10.4 billion or $125 per share.
• RSH - Student discounts expected to aid back-to-school sales
• QIHU - The Chinese internet company reported a 372% increase in Q2 profit from $7 million for the same quarter last year.

• MRVL - Company requests reduction in jury award tied to Carnegie Mellon patent infringement case.
• CNH - CFO Pablo Di Si has announced his resignation with CFO Massimiliano Chiara will assume the lead of both Fiat International and CNH.
• ALVR - Court-appointed receiver has asked the district court of Tel Aviv to approve its sale to Valley Telekom.