Dow Ekes Out April Gain

By MATT JARZEMSKY

NEW YORK—Economic worries at home and in Spain led the Dow industrials lower Monday, but the average eked out its seventh-straight monthly gain.

The Dow fell 14.68 points, or 0.1%, to 13213.63. The benchmark pared losses as closing trades were settled and ended 1.59 points higher than at the start of April. Its monthly winning streak is now the longest in five years.

The Dow traded lower after Spain officially entered a recession and domestic readings on the economy and personal spending deteriorated. Chris Dieterich has details on The News Hub. Photo: Bloomberg.

The Standard Poor's 500-stock index, meanwhile, slid 5.45 points, or 0.4%, to 1397.91, and posted its first monthly retreat since November. The Nasdaq Composite declined 22.84 points, or 0.7%, to 3046.36.

The information technology and industrials sectors led the S&P 500 lower. Humana fell 8.1% as the health insurer's raised guidance still fell short of analysts' estimates. NYSE Euronext dropped 4.9% as the exchange operator's earnings suffered from a continuing slump in trading activity.

"Today, given the Spanish news and then no good economic numbers, per se, there's no particular reason to be buying, at least for short-term guys," said Rick Bensignor, chief market strategist at Merlin Securities.

Barron's associate editor Andrew Bary visits Mean Street with a look at reasons the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average is due for significant changes. Photo: Bloomberg News.

Spain's economy contracted for the second consecutive quarter. European markets edged mostly lower, with the Stoxx Europe 600 falling 0.7% to halt a four-session win streak.

Personal spending slowed in March, rising 0.3%, the Commerce Department said. The reading fell just shy of the 0.4% growth forecast by economists in a Dow Jones Newswires poll and followed an upwardly revised February increase of 0.9%, the biggest gain in over 2½ years.

Personal incomes rose 0.4%, topping expectations for a 0.2% advance, suggesting that while consumer buying is providing a lesser boost to the economy, it could pick up in coming months.

The price index for personal consumption expenditures, excluding volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2% on a monthly basis in March, in line with economists' expectations.

The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago's business barometer fell to 56.2 in April from last month's 62.2, hitting a 29-month low and missing economists' forecasts. A reading above 50.0 reflects expansion in the economy.

Reuters

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas manufacturing production index fell to 5.6 this month from 11.1 in March. The Dallas Fed's reading on April business activity swung to a -3.4 from March's 10.8 score. A negative reading means firms reporting a decrease in activity outnumber those reporting an increase.

Asian markets were broadly higher on the back of a strong finish in the U.S. the previous week. Hong Kong's Hang Seng increased 1.7% and Australia's ASX 200 tacked on 0.8%. Markets in Japan and Shanghai were closed for holidays.

Crude-oil futures shed 0.1% to settle at $104.87 a barrel, while gold futures ticked down less than 0.1% to finish at $1,663.40 an ounce. The U.S. dollar rose against the euro but lost ground against the yen.

In corporate news, shares of Barnes & Noble shot up 52% after the book seller said Microsoft was making a $300 million investment in its Nook digital-book business and college texts unit. Microsoft shares inched up 0.1%.

Energy Transfer Partners agreed to purchase independent refiner Sunoco in a $5.3 billion deal, adding to the suitor's pipeline and gas-station assets. Shares of Sunoco jumped 20%. Energy Transfer Partners shares rose 3.6%.

Gen-Probe, a maker of tests for sexually transmitted diseases, surged 19% after agreeing to be acquired by health products maker Hologic for about $3.7 billion. Hologic shares fell 9.9%.

Warner Chilcott jumped 16% as the maker of women's health-care and dermatology products confirmed it is holding preliminary discussions with potential suitors and evaluating options for its business.

As of Friday's close, nearly three-fourths of the S&P 500 had reported first-quarter earnings, with a higher percentage beating expectations than in the prior quarter, according to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch note to clients.

Monday, Anheuser-Busch InBev's U.S.-listed shares fell 2 cents, or less than 0.1%, to 72.62 after the Belgium-based beer brewer reported a year-over-year increase in first-quarter earnings revenue that just missed analyst expectations.

Apple dropped 3.2% following a front-page report in the New York Times about methods to legally reduce its tax burden.

Write to Matt Jarzemsky at matthew.jarzemsky@dowjones.com