NEW YORK — After surging over four days to near pre-recession highs, stocks slipped from that level Monday after a new sign of a slowdown in the U.S. economy and worries over Europe’s struggle to keep its currency union intact.
All three major indexes were down, though barely. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 40.27 points, or 0.3 percent, to 13,553.10.
U.S. stocks are coming off a surge last week that sent the S&P 500 to its highest level in nearly five years. Investors bought stocks on news that the Federal Reserve planned to buy mortgage bonds in an effort to get people to borrow and spend more.
Dampening investor spirits was an Empire State Manufacturing Survey suggesting that conditions for New York manufacturers continued to weaken in September. That followed news from the Fed on Friday that U.S. industrial production fell in August by the largest amount in more than three years.
“We’re not completely out of the woods economically, and that’s weighing on markets,” said Wasif Latif, vice president of equity investments at USAA Investments. He added that, as indexes hover at multiyear highs, “psychological barriers and technical barriers may be tough to breach.”
Apple rose $8.50 to $699.78, a new high for the stock market’s most valuable company. The company said advance sales for its iPhone 5 available this week are running at double the rate for its previous version of the phone.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 4.58 to 1,461.19. The Nasdaq composite lost 5.28 to 3,178.67.
Six of the 10 major industry sectors in the S&P 500 fell, led by materials stocks, down 1.5 percent. Banks and other financial companies were also hit hard, down 1.1 percent.
Energy stocks lost 0.8 percent, climbing back from steeper losses in the afternoon after a plunge in oil that left traders guessing as to the cause. Benchmark crude fell to $96.62, a loss of $2.38, or 2.4 percent, the biggest fall since late July.
