Stocks Retreat

Indices ended in the red zone on Monday. Brands such as Travelers, Merck, Microsoft and Bank of America led the Dow’s descent. Stocks dipped amid a variety of economic news. Concern that the European debt crisis could ramp up and a smaller-than-expected increase in factory orders may have pressured trading action. Orders moved up 1.8% in December, which was shy of consensus expectations. Economists were expecting factory orders to jump up 2.2%. Meanwhile, November orders were downwardly revised to a 0.3% drop that was initially reported as unchanged. Elsewhere, crude oil futures shed $1.60 to settle at $96.17 a barrel.

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