U.S. stocks step cautiously; Dow extends loss to fifth day

(MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock investors avoided any big moves ahead of the week's major U.S. economic reports Monday, though negative sentiment about global growth was enough to push the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its fifth day of losses.

Indecision about the global economy marked the day's trading, with stocks swinging between modest gains and losses for much of the low-volume session.

By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DOW:DJIA) had lost 1.1 points, or 0.01%, to 10,302.01. Over the last five days, it's lost nearly 400 points. The other benchmark indexes quit their losing streak, however, to end with modest gains.

"Investors are continuing to react to the onslaught of marginally negative news regarding the pace of the global economic recovery," said Fred Dickson, chief investment strategist at Davidson Cos.

Wall Street staged an early retreat after a regional manufacturing report came in short of estimates and Japan joined the list of countries with slowing economic growth. (more)