Uncertainty ahead as US stocks slip slightly

Wall Street withstood a spate of profit-taking today, 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 programme.

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 on August 8.

With disappointing earnings forecasts from Tyson Foods. 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%, to 11,185.68 after climbing 3.23% last week.

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